Super Smash Brothers: Brawl
by MetroidMania23
Summary: A brawl story that takes place after Subspace. New characters that aren't in Brawl are added, and it's almost all yaoi and yuri, so you were warned. Samus's PoV. SamusxZelda LinkxPit, and many, many others.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1 – Crashed**

Sitting in my ship, I leaned back in the pilot seat. The everyday antics of space travel again boring me, just like they did every time. The idea of being able to travel throughout the universe used to excite me. Now it just bores me; it became very common, a very every day thing for me.

Being in a tiny ship with bad food for days on end wasn't exactly my idea of fun, even if it had been exciting the first time. But now it was natural, and getting old fast. Maybe in a few years, they would invent another way to travel—and that would probably get old fast too.

There was nothing for me to do, but I didn't really feel like staying in one place. I believed that, being who I was, I would get a job as soon as I returned, so I might as well just wait out in my ship. Maybe something would pop up. Something that had to be done. Something that would get me out of this ship and into the world again.

For some reason, I felt like there was something missing. I mean, like there was a gap in my memory. The ship's clock told me it was somewhere in July; I didn't pay attention. Last time I had checked that clock, it was late March, and I was going to Phaaze. How had...that much time gone by? And so fast too?

Closing my eyes, I almost fell asleep, when there was a beeping noise from the screen. Opening one eye, I scowled and stared at it. There was a distress beacon, and the ship system said, "Deacon received." Staring at the screen in shock, I watched the ship set the course itself to the spot on a strange planet where the distress signal had come from.

I continually hit "abort," but the ship didn't seem to be listening. "Hey!" I yelled. "What are you doing?! Stop!" But nothing seemed to work. I hit the sides of the ship, yelled at the console, and even considered shutting it down, but the ship kept going.

The planet was large, one of the biggest planets I had seen that I knew could hold sentient life. It had large continents, with a desert, and large polar ice caps. I could see a large mountain range cutting all the way across one of the large continents. That continent was covered in forests and plains. And I was heading right for that one.

"Fuckers!" I yelled, slamming my hands on the console. I was going to crash because I couldn't control my ship. Even my reckless driving was better than how it was going right now. "Stop it right now, you pathetic excuse for a ship!" Was I really yelling at it?

I didn't know what to do. Should I go and put on my suit, and wait for the crash? Or should I continue to try and put this ship back into my control? Whatever happened, I decided I was going to get this ship back into my control first.

I was getting frustrated and didn't have much time to think. Impact would be in less than five minutes. Grabbing hold of the wheel, I tried to turn it around, back into the air. All I wanted was to get the ship away from the ground.

Now I was hitting random buttons, trying to make an attempt at stopping this pathetic excuse for a ship from hitting the ground at a speed of over a thousand miles per hour. I closed my eyes as I watched the ground rush up to meet me.

It wasn't the actual crashing itself that hurt, more so as the ship exploding afterwards into a million little, pointy pieces. All I could do was lay there and wait for the pain to go away so I could move....

--

I felt like I was floating in a sea of clouds. I knew I wasn't dead or anything, but I felt like I was only half conscious, floating right on the edge. But I thought I heard someone talking above me. For some reason, I didn't care. I just laid there, on the ground, floating in between consciousness and unconsciousness.

Some of the words came to me. "She...ok?" someone was saying. Either they were talking to me, or someone else was there.

Another voice said, "Not...sure....Get...help...?"

The first voice answered, "What...?"

"...Point...." The second voice sounded upset.

As I regained consciousness, I was able to pick things out. The first person to talk was a woman. She sounded young. The second person to talk was a man who sounded younger than the woman, but not by much. I listened more closely.

"She's bleeding a lot," the woman said, "isn't there anything we can do?"

"I don't think so," the man said. "There's no one here. I don't even know why we are here."

The woman sighed. "Maybe we should just get here out from under there." I liked this lady, she wanted to help me. I can appreciate that one hundred percent.

My eyes were still closed, so I couldn't see who these people were. Maybe I didn't want to. Maybe I did. But I was so comfortable, believe it or not, so I layed there with my eyes closed, pretending to be out.

I felt strong hands grab my arms and pull, dragging me out from under the debris. Keeping my eyes closed, I felt those same hands check for a pulse. They found one, and moved. The woman's voice said, "Her ears...they're so...small."

"The people I grew up with had ears like that, don't you remember?" the man asked, sounded surprised and slightly frustrated.

Finally, I opened my eyes. It was then I realized how groggy I was. Nothing really made sense as the bright light flashed in front of my eyes. The first thing I noticed wasn't really the best thing. "Your ears are really big," I said bluntly, staring at the woman in front of me.

She looked insulted and...strangely familiar. Her long brown hair was braided from the the middle of it all down and two thick strands framing her face. Her deep blue eyes, like an ocean, were wide and angry, probably from what I had just said. I felt strangely safe when I looked into them, like all of the troubles and worries I had just melted away. She was shorter than I was, but I was tall, so that was to be expected. But she had a warm smile on her face, and her long ears weren't that strange the longer I looked. She wore a white and purple dress, with lots of gold. She had gold shoulder blades, a tiara, and bracers. She had a gold belt with a piece of cloth hanging from it. The cloth had a symbol on it, a symbol of three triangles in a formation above a red bird like thing. It looked so familiar. She was beautiful, and I couldn't keep my eyes off of her.

"Are you okay?" the man's voice asked. I looked over at him, angry to have to take my eyes off of the woman. "Can you understand me?"

He was shorter than she was, that was the first thing I noticed. He was familiar as well. Unlike the woman, he had blonde hair that was parted to one side, and fell over his forehead. His blue eyes were very unlike the eyes of the woman. His eyes were very cold and business like. He wore a silly green hat, along with a green tunic. Under the tunic, I saw that he was wearing chain mail and a long sleeve, white undershirt under that. He wore white leggings along with that, and brown boots. His gauntlets were leather, and he was wearing black gloves underneath. He had a long sword on his back, and a shield, along with other various weapons. His belt held what looked like a money bag and a bag of something else. Despite his cold eyes, and weaponry, he had a very friendly air about him.

"Yeah...." I mumbled, starting to sit up. My head spun as I got into a sitting position, and regretted it instantly. Maybe I should've stayed on the ground.

"Are you okay?" he repeated.

"Why do you care?" I asked, rubbing my throbbing head.

"You were under all of that debris," the woman said. "And it looked like it had crushed you. We were worried, so we thought we might help." She looked frustrated at my lack of relief that they had come to help me.

I rolled my eyes. "Well, thanks for pointing out the obvious," I said. Getting to my feet, I wiped some dirt off my shoulder. "So, if that's all, then I'll be going."

"Wait!" the woman said when I started to walk. "Where is this?"

"Like I have any idea. I thought you might've known."

The man shook his head. "We just woke up here. We have no idea where we are. We thought you might know."

"Well, I haven't got a clue," I snarled. I was angry, and I didn't want to be mean to them. For some reason, whenever I was mean to that girl, I felt bad. "Looks like we're in the same boat here."

The man nodded. "I'm Link," he said, holding out his hand to shake it. I grabbed his hand firmly.

"Nice to meet you, Link," I said, giving him a small, business-like smile.

"I'm Zelda," the woman said, smiling brightly. She and I exchanged the same greeting as Link and I had. The names rang a bell in my head, but I couldn't remember where I had heard them before.

"What's your name?" Zelda asked.

"I'm Samus," I said. "Samus Aran."

They both looked at each other, and then back at me.

Zelda said, "That sounds so...familiar."


	2. Chapter 2

Ok, I know I didn't but this in the first chapter, but that was uploaded really fast and I didn't have much time. So, here it is.

Brawl story, Samus's PoV. After the Subspace story.

Brawl, Metroid, Zelda, and Mario © Nintendo and their respective creators.

--

**Chapter 2**

"Familiar, huh?" I asked, shrugging. "Well, thanks for getting me out from under that and everything. I'll be going now." I stared to walk away again.

"Wait!" Zelda said again, grabbing my shoulder. I shivered at her touch, but...not in a bad way. I couldn't describe it. It reminded me of the way I felt when Adam had touched my shoulder, only...this was more powerful.

"What?" I asked. I was trying so hard not to be cold, but it was hard. Just because I liked this woman, even though I didn't know her, didn't mean I wasn't going to be just like I was to everyone else.

Zelda looked kind of insulted. "You're not leaving, are you?" she asked. "Where are you going?"

I just shrugged. "Somewhere."

"Stay with us," Link suggested. With a very business like tone, he added, "We're less likely to get attacked if we're in a group, and besides, we can probably figure out a way off this planet faster if we work together."

His words were logical, as much as I hated to admit it. Shrugging, I said, "Whatever. There's power in numbers, I suppose. And I owe you for helping me out." I turned back to face my destroyed ship.

Before I said anything, I noticed the huge shadow flying over it, and the sound of a sword unsheathing. Grabbing a tight hold on the emergency pistol I always carried with me, I looked up.

Above us, I saw a giant purple dragon that drew up anger into my heart. It was him, back to destroy what little hope I had. Anger flowed through me when I saw him, and I scowled. "Ridley," I muttered. "Why are you here?"

A screech was heard, and I fired a shot of the emergency pistol. Staring at him, I could distinguish something pink in his claws. Unnatural though that may be, that probably meant he had something he shouldn't. I ran after him.

I jumped and dodged around the trees, trying to get as close to my target as possible. Using the superhuman powers my adoptive family had given me, I jumped out of the canopy and into the air.

Just as I was about to fire, I felt something push off of my back, knocking me back towards the ground. As I was falling, I looked up to see a man in gray flying up towards Ridley. He grabbed whatever was in Ridley's claws, pulled it out, and fell to the ground.

As I landed with a thud, the man landed gracefully next to me, putting someone down. Scrambling to my feet, I was about to say something when the man ran off, chasing after Ridley. "Oh!" I heard behind me.

I spun around, pointing the pistol at whatever or whoever was standing there. I saw a woman, looking surprised. She wore a bright pink dress. Her long blonde hair fell behind her, and looked very...princess-y with the crown on her head. Her big blue eyes were filled with surprise, but not fear, I noted. She looked at me.

"Who are you?" she asked, her voice very high pitched. I wondered if it was normally like that, or if it was her way of showing fear.

"Uhm, who are you?" I shot back, waiting for her to answer before I did.

"My name is Peach," she said happily, her outward appearance changing drastically.

"Oh...kay?" I said. "Well, my name is Samus Aran."

"Nice to meet you, Samus!" she exclaimed happily, grabbing my right hand in both of her's and shaking vigorously. "It's always nice to meet knew people. I'm sure we're going to be great friends."

I raised one eyebrow skeptically. "Right," I said, folding my arms. "So what—"

Before I could finish, I heard the scrambling of people running, and Link and Zelda appeared through the thicket. Zelda looked frightened, and Link looked frustrated. "What was that thing?" he demanded of me. "And why did you chase after it? Are you stupid?"

I bridled at Link's accusation. "I think I would know more about him than you would," I snarled. "And I have every right to chase after him. You wouldn't understand."

"Why wouldn't I?" he snarled back. Obviously, this man didn't like to be wrong. "It's not like you're a hero or anything."

I laughed. "You would be surprised, little man," I said, snarling down at him. "I've seen more than you ever would. You wouldn't believe the things that I've seen, the things that I've done. But that sounds clichéd. But it's true, never the less."

Link rolled his eyes. He turned away. "This is a battle not worth fighting," he said, trying to sound like he was above me.

I followed suit and turned back to Peach. "As. I. Was. Saying," I snarled. "What happened? How did he get you?"

"Who?" Peach asked.

"Ridley," I said, rubbing my temples.

Something clicked in her head. "Oh! You mean the big, purple dragon?" she asked excitedly.

"No, I meant the small, orange dragon," I said sarcastically. "Yes, the big, purple dragon." I was losing my patience quickly, and I had little of it to begin with. I wasn't really sure what I was getting myself into.

Peach looked thoughtful. "You know, I don't really know," she said, tapping her chin. "I just remember going to bed, and waking up in his arms. It's not really uncommon for me, though. It happens a lot."

"Really?" I asked in a deadbeat tone. I wasn't all that interested, but was going to pretend I was. I stretched.

Wow, it wasn't even that late into it and I was tired. These people took a lot of my energy just to keep moderately happy. And they weren't even that. Link and Zelda were arguing behind me, and Peach was talker too fast for me to listen. I decided to just pretend to listen.

Peach was talking about some kind of large lizard like thing with a spiked shell that didn't really matter to me. It wasn't like I was going to have to deal with it or anything. I came in half way through a sentence.

"—and then Mario saved me again!" Peach exclaimed happily.

"Again?" I asked, pretending to sound like I had been listening the whole time. "He seems quite talented. Saving you from that lizard thing all those times." Peach seemed very satisfied with my answers.

She smiled widely. "Yeah. Bowser always tried to kidnap me. I don't know why though...." She looked thoughtful.

"Is there something that makes you special? Something you have that no one else does?" I asked, trying to sound as interested as possible.

Peach looked thoughtful again. "Well," she said, "I am the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom. But Bower's the king of his own kingdom."

I blinked. This air-headed girl was a princess? She diffidently fit the description that they had where I came from. The blonde-haired, pink-wearing, air-headed, damsel in distress type of princess who relied on the hero to save her. I guess I really didn't know what I was getting myself into.

"Then he wants to add your kingdom to his, I suppose," I said thoughtfully, kind of interested now. "He thinks that if he kidnaps you, and you disappear, he can take control. Make sense?"

Peach nodded vigorously as Link said, "Zelda's a princess, too. Small world."

Her too? Geez, where were all of these people coming from? "And let me guess," I said sarcastically. "You, Link, are the hero that saves her."

"Actually, yes," he said. "People call me a hero, but...I mean...I had a lot of help from a close friend of mine."

I could tell he was only trying to be modest. "Close friend?" I asked. "And what was his name?"

"_Her_ name," Link snapped, "was Midna."

"That's nice," I said, losing interest. Turning back to Peach, I added, "Is there anyone else with you?" My voice sounded dull, bored...exactly how I was feeling.

"Uhm, no," Peach said. No matter what she said, or how she said it, she did so with a smile on her face. How she could accomplish that, and how her kingdom, (the Mushroom Kingdom, had she said?) could deal with it, I didn't have a clue.

Shrugging it off, I turned quickly on my heel and walked back to the rubble that was once my ship, ignoring the questions the other three shot at me. They weren't from where I was, that was certain, and I wasn't sure how long I wanted to interact with them.

My impatience was growing as I walked over to it. Why was Ridley here? What did he want with Peach? Where was "here," exactly? And why were we all here? Those questions bothered me as I started digging through the rubble, searching.

"Where the fuck is it?" I snarled to myself, a habit I had picked up from being alone for long periods of time. My distress grew when it was nowhere to be found.

Zelda piped up. "What are you looking for?" she asked, trying to be polite, I was sure.

"My suit!" I yelled, digging some more. "Where the fuck is my suit?!" My anger grew as I threw pieces of the ship that normal humans couldn't aside and struggled to look for something I was sure wasn't there. But I did find two things.

One of them was pretty vital. A little backpack of supplies that I had, for emergencies similar to this one. Of course, I had never expected to be stranded on a planet with people from places I had never heard of, but it was for the instance I was without my suit and couldn't use my ship. Always prepared, I guess.

The other thing I found stricked both fear and anger into my heart. My helmet. With a huge crack down the visor. What made this worse was that this was the only part of my faithful suit that I could find. Sure, the visor was the most vital part of it, but...it was useless without the rest of the suit, just as the suit was useless without the visor.

"Where did it go?!" I yelled, slamming my fist into a large plate that was once the ships exterior, making it bend in a "U" shape. I could hear gasps behind me from the people. I felt vulnerable, like someone could come down and kill me right then and there. Without my suit, I was powerless.

Peach walked over and knelt down next to me. "What did it look like?" she asked, her voice soft. When she wanted to be, she was really quite sweet.

"Orange, yellow, and red," I explained. "Big and bulky, with huge shoulders. It was made of metal." I clenched my fist, trying to calm myself down. Who could've taken it? Why would they've?

Tapping her chin, Peach said, "You know, I think that giant purple dragon had it."

My heart sank. "He what?" I asked, staring at the floor. Ridley had my suit? How...? The only thing that made me feel a little better was the fact that he didn't have the helmet, making the suit utterly useless to him. But if he destroyed it....But I wasn't going to think about that.

Peach put a hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry, friend, I'm sure things will be ok." She sounded chipper, like she wasn't going to have to deal with anything bad.

But how did she know? How did she know what was going to happen? Even I knew that this was an impossible thing that had happened, an impossible thing that had happened to us that no one knew what was going to be.

Even if I did find my suit, there was no way that I or anyone around me was going to make it out alive. That realization took me aback. For some reason, I felt close to these people. Closer than any other people I've ever met; like I knew them before. Maybe I had, maybe I hadn't. But I felt the need to keep them alive.

Tears welling up in my eyes, I stood up and turned around, looking at them. "C'mon, let's go," I said, walking. "Let's find a place to camp out. We need to stay together. We need to stay safe."

They followed behind me, obviously in shock at my change of heart.

--

Reviews are nice, I suppose.


	3. Chapter 3

I'm just shooting these things out, aren't I? Woo! Chappie 3! Already.

Oh well, © of Nintendo and all that.

Read and Review, please!

--

**Chapter 3**

Apparently, we had been walking for hours, even though it only felt like a few minutes to me. I was so energetic and hyped up now, I couldn't keep still. But it was dusk, and I didn't know what was out here, so we all agreed it was time to set up camp.

We walked again, looking for a suitable place. The river we had been following had led us to a convenient little clearing, big enough for all of us. There were a bunch of twigs and leaves on the ground, and the trees leaned in, almost in a friendly way. I could see the river bending around just on the outside of the clearing, in a small thicket of trees. Smiling a bit, I walked forward, dropping my bag at my feet and looking around. "Good enough for me," I said out loud.

Link, Zelda, and Peach walked up behind me. "Samus," Zelda asked, "do you have any idea what's out there? I mean, there might be something that could hurt us...." She sounded a little nervous, and extremely anxious.

Thoughtfully, I looked around the clearing. "Well," I said, "if there's anything I learned from the survival training I had, it's that fire will scare away most animals. A watch would also be convenient."

"A watch?" Peach asked. "Why would we need a watch? Does time have something to do with this?" She looked interested, and taken aback by what I had said.

Slapping my forehead, I opened my mouth to answer, but Link said, "A watch is where someone stays awake, while everyone else sleeps. They 'watch' over the camp, making sure everyone's safe." He nodded approvingly at me.

"Oh," Peach said, looking embarrassed for only a split second. "Well, then, how are those set up?"

Before Link could say anything, I said, "We'll set it up equally, and times are determined by the people. Peach, I think you should get the first watch. It's the easiest. Zelda, the second. Peach, when you're watch is over, the moon should be about there." I pointed to a spot in the sky. "Remember that, ok?"

She nodded.

"Anyways, when the moon gets to that spot," I point again for good measure, "wake Zelda up." Hesitating, I pick up a stick laying on the ground. With the point of the stick, I draw a line on the ground, followed by a circle near the corner, and circle a little further, and a little further, and then again, towards the other end. I write everyone's names in their designated areas. "The circle is the moon," I explained. "When the moon is here," I pointed to the second circle, "your watch is over, Peach. Then it's Zelda's." I continued on, explaining how it worked.

When they all seemed to understand what I was trying to say, I nodded and started gathering sticks and rocks. Link asked, "Making the fire?"

I nodded. "Could you help a little?" I asked, dropping the rocks and sticks at his feet. "You could help by making a circle of stones. We can put the fire in the middle."

Link followed his directions, while I gathered more sticks. When Link was finished, I sat down and put the sticks in the pit, setting them up like a tepee. Rummaging through the bag, I pulled out a lighter I had. Flicking the switch, I set a stick ablaze, placing it in the bramble of sticks, and watching it set the rest of the sticks ablaze.

Watching the fire, I remember that night, years ago. I was little, and everything was burning. People were screaming, running. People I had seen all the time, people I had seen every day, running away in fear. While I ran forward, trying to get to something. Trying to get to them. But then—

"—Samus?" Zelda asked. I must've missed something.

I blinked. "Huh?"

"What's wrong, Samus?" Zelda asked, obviously frustrated. She must've said it a couple times before I came back to myself.

I looked back at the fire. "Nothing's wrong," I said.

"Oh, really?" she asked, looking unsure. "You looked...sad."

I smiled. "I'm not sad," I assured her. "It was nothing. No need to worry about me."

Zelda stared into the fire, a look of frustration on her face. Ignoring it, I looked over at Peach. She was staring at the sky, looking thoughtful. Whatever she was thinking about, it was obviously intense, something I didn't think that Peach was capable of. Link was staring into the fire as well, his brow furrowed. If anything, Link looked the most frustrated and worried of us all. Why wasn't Zelda worried about him?

Not saying a word, I look up at the sky. "I'm going to bed," I almost stutter out. The thought of what I had almost seen in the fire tore at me, making me frustrated and upset. But I wasn't going to let my emotions get the better of me so easily.

Walking away from the fire, I say, "Remember the schedule." And then laying down, my head on the ground and rolling on my side, shutting my eyes. Maybe, if I was lucky, I wouldn't dream tonight.

--

_It was hot inside the suit, and on the planet. The desert that had once been the prime of the planetary civilization shimmered. It was so hot here, I could barely stand it. But I had to keep going, had to move on. I couldn't let them down._

_The crumbling bridges and buildings made me shiver. People used to live here? Civilized, genius people. Living here, before the meteor had hit. What was I going to do?_

_Entering a door, I wondered what was going to be here. Walking forward, I watch as the room changes. It darkens greatly, and white spots appear. What was this? Where was I? This wasn't the ruins I knew. What was going on?_

_I switched quickly to my scan visor, trying to determine what I was going up against. It was hard to scan these things. They kept disappearing and reappearing. But I finally got one. It read: "Chozo Ghost."_

_My heart almost stopped. A ghost? Of the Chozo? But they had always said....They hadn't believed in ghosts. What was going on? Was this someone I knew? Someone I had been friends with? How was I supposed to kill them, if they were already dead?_

_Before I could even think, an energy beam was shot at me from one of the ghosts, knocking me into a wall. My eyes blurred from the force of the hit. I opened my eyes, one of the ghosts was right in front of me and—_

_--_

I woke up in a cold sweat, my breathing heavy. It was only a dream. Only a dream. Nothing to really fret about. Why was I so worried about something so fake? Something that had happened already, something past? That was it, I wasn't. I was letting emotions take control. I was being dumb.

I sat up and looked around, Link was walking towards me. "Oh," he said, "you're up already. Your turn."

I got up, and sat down by the smoldering embers that had once been our fire. Staring into them reminded me of places I had been, placing I had seen. Half of me was comforted by this familiar sight, while the other half was bothered. What did this fire symbolize to me? Hatred? Greed? Pain? Probably pain.

But fire was a symbol of life, in a sense. It is metaphorically a soul. What did that mean to me? What was I supposed to believe, when I looked at this fire? The torrent of emotion that I was feeling was strange to me. I didn't like it, so I pushed it away, into the back of my mind.

It was quiet in the forest. No wind, no animals. Not one hoot from an owl, or one screech from a bat. It was eerily quiet. My eyes slid shut as I sat there, and it took all of my effort to stay awake in the quiet clearing. I had to stay awake though, because something might happen if I fall asleep, and then I would've let them down.

The light dawned in the east. The light made the sky turn a shade of pink-ish purple. The clouds had a gold tint to them, and it was very peaceful and serene. I was very comforted by this, and settled down against a tree, my eye lids heavy. They would be up soon, wouldn't they?

There was no sign of movement from the others, only the deep, heavy breathing from their sleeping forms. Where they having happy dreams? Where they blessed with those, where I was cursed with nightmares and night terrors?

The silence of the camp was peaceful, serene. It was nice not to really have to worry for a minute, but the longer I sat there, the more I realized how much was on my shoulders. I had to help these people, and myself, find a way back home. I supposed my first priority was them. Get them home, then worry about myself.

But how was I even going to do that? I didn't know where I was even supposed to go, let alone how to get everyone home. Maybe I should stop worrying. Worrying never got me anywhere, did it? I needed to let go, just go with my gut, but all my gut told me was that I was hungry. That wasn't really what I wanted to know.

The first signs of life come from the others in the camp. Zelda stirs, opening her eyes. She lifts her head up, and looks around, swinging her head from side-to-side. She looks at me, and almost looks like she's going to question who I am. Her confusion died, and she gets up, and walks over to me, sitting down by me.

"Good morning," she said, smiling at me.

I grunted in reply. I wasn't really in the mood to talk. I wasn't much of a morning person. My eyes wandered around the camp. Link was getting to his feet, stretching. Peach was fixing her hair, running her fingers through it.

This was going to be a long day.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

The first thing that happened was Peach started talking. She was asking how everyone slept, what was for breakfast, and what we were going to do that day. Her endless babble frustrated everyone to some extent, but no one really said anything. We didn't really know her, what right did we have to say?

I sighed, trying to answer Peach's questions. "Peach, I really don't know what we're going to do today," I said. "Maybe we could spend the day making the camp more efficient."

Link nodded in agreement, Zelda just shrugged, and Peach asked, "Well, how do we do that?"

"Shelter, water, food, fire," I explained. Peach looked at the smoldering ashes that was once our fire, and, before she could say anything, I said, "We need to get it into a place where it won't burn out so easily. Maybe in a ditch in the ground. And as for water, there was that river we followed. If we boil the water over the fire, it will be healthy to drink. Shelter...I'm not sure yet. It doesn't look like it's going to rain any time soon." I hesitated.

Link cut in. "As for food, I'm sure we'll find a way to manage. There's plenty of fruits and berries in the area. Not all of them are going to be healthy, but I'm willing to taste them."

I nodded. "So am I," I added.

Zelda remained silent, her eyes on the floor. What was she thinking, I wondered. Obviously, it was holding all of her attention, because she hadn't looked up the entire time we had been talking, except for the begging. What was going on in her head?

Peach smiled brightly. "I have food with me," she explained.

At the same time, Link and I asked, "You have _what_ with you?" How did she have that, of all things? Her smile widened at our confusion.

Peach pulled an apple out of her pocket. I blinked. Where had she gotten that? Along with the apple, came an umbrella. She opened it, and held it above her head, blocking the sun. "How did you do that?!" I asked, shocked.

In a matter-of-fact tone, Peach answered, "It's in my pocket, silly." She said it in such a way that I felt kind of stupid, but, at the same time, didn't understand at all.

Shaking my head, I said, "But you pulled out an umbrella, not to mention a completely ripe apple. How did you have that in there without the apple getting squished? And how did you fit the umbrella in there generally?"

Link smiled. "I understand it," he explained. "I'm guessing it's a spell."

"A spell?" I asked, but no one heard me.

Peach explained it to me and Link. "It really is a big pocket. But, also, there is a spell on it."

"A spell?" I asked, again.

Peach and Link both stared at me. "Like, magic," Peach explained. "A magic spell. You know?"

I rolled my eyes. "Magic doesn't exist," I stated simply. "Where I come from, people used to believe in magic and spells. But I know better. Technology is the closest thing we have to magic. There is no such thing."

Zelda finally looked up, her eyes filled with anger. "No such thing as magic?" she demanded. "No such thing? How could you say that?!"

Her anger surprised me almost as much as the idea of magic itself. Had I done something wrong? I was just stating my opinion. "It's just what I think," I spluttered, trying avoid conflict. "You can think whatever you like, but I like my idea of the world the way it is. Even if it has been changed a lot in less than a day," I added under my breath.

Link's mouth hung open, and he stared at Zelda. He looked like he was in complete shock at the way Zelda was acting. Obviously, this wasn't normal behavior for her. Why was it always me that brought out the worst in people?

Zelda's hands clenched into fists at her side. Her eyes burned with anger, and I started backing up, holding both hands up in surrender. "I don't want to fight, Zelda," I explained, continuing to move away. "I don't want to cause a riff in the camp, that wouldn't be good." But was that really the reason? I would tell myself it was.

Fire erupted from her hands, appearing from nowhere. I jumped up, right over the ball of fire, and landed on the ground. "What the hell was that?!" I asked, shocked. "Where did that fire come from."

Link smirked. "Is appeared...almost as if by magic!" he said.

"Oh, fuck off," I snarled. Turning back to Zelda, I mumbled, "There's gotta be a logical explanation for that."

Peach interrupted. "Maybe you should stop putting so much stock on logic," Peach said, sounding wise for the first time. "I could tell you were that kind of person when I met you. Always thinking of the logical way first, and then the ways that don't make much sense. Think with your head, not with your heart."

I grumbled, and then said, "Well, my head has saved me on numerous occasions, so I think I'm going to stick with my head, thanks." I looked away, staring at the ring of trees. But then again, my head wasn't always the best place. But what of my heart? Did I even....I shook my head, trying to dispel the thoughts.

Peach sighed. "You need to lighten up. You're one of _those _types."

"Those types."

"The types who think that they're in the right because of something, even though they've never tried the other option. Lighten up, Sammy."

I rolled my eyes. "And yet another person who calls me that," I mumbled, staring at the ground. "Why does everyone call me 'Sammy'?" I remembered Gandrayda, when we were starting the generators on Norion. She had called me 'Sammy.' She had been my friend in the beginning. But I had to kill her. She's dead, and it was my fault.

Zelda still hadn't cooled off yet, in more than one way. The fire was still burning around her hands, somehow not hurting her. Even though I didn't believe in magic, I had to admit, this was quite a display. Fire appearing from nowhere. How that was possible, I would never understand. Maybe it was best that I didn't.

Her eyes still bore into my skull. The way she looked at me, I felt like I was being analyzed, like I was being scanned by my own visor. It felt like she was seeing into my very soul, or lack thereof. Her eyes sparkled from the light of the fire, I couldn't help but notice. She was really cute when she was angry....But what was I thinking?!

Link interjected. "You know, maybe we should get to work. It'll be noon before we know it, and that's the hottest point of the day, when it's the most difficult to work. We should start now, take a break at noon, and then continue on when the sun's a little lower."

We all agreed, even Zelda, who was refusing to look in my general direction. We started with out designated jobs. Link was getting water, Zelda and Peach were finding food other than what Peach had, and I was going to make the camp a little bit more comfortable. My first concern was the fire.

I started digging a hole for the fire, using only my hands. The dirt on the top was very hard, and I had to dig through the roots of grass and weeds, but once you got passed the thin top layer, it was easy to dig through.

The soil here was nice, good for growing things. I could see little rocks in it, along with various minerals. It reminded me of a planet I had visited one time. Only that planet was filled with pollution. They say that the planet, Earth, was the planet where human life originated. I found that hard to believe.

The hole was three feet wide, and two feet deep. Gathering up some more wood from around the camp site, and a little bit into the forest, I created a little fire pit. Again, the wood was set up like a tepee, but this time, it was inside the ground. I put the circle of stones we had for the original fire around the pit, as if trying to explain that you couldn't go in. That was good enough for the time being, so I lit the fire and thought about other things I could do.

I stared into the fire for a while, thinking of something. If I wanted to cut down some trees, I could built a little fence. But what good was that going to do us? People could easily get in. I only had a small, one or two person tent in my bag. It was made for one person, but it was really large enough to fit two, but that was it. There was four of us. I could make a rain catcher, in case it ever did rain. But that didn't look like it was going to work; it was cloudless in all directions. I started pacing, my brain racing to think of something to do.

I needed to move, needed to work. But there wasn't very much to do. I did have something I could do, but everyone had to be here for it to work. That was frustrating.

Link was walking back, carrying a pot that Peach had given him. I could see that it was full of water. He placed it next to the fire, and asked, "Is that all you did?" He looked a little frustrated at my lack of effort.

"Well, excuse me!" I said sarcastically, putting a hand over my heart. "I didn't know that wasn't enough. Maybe I should build huts for everyone. They'll be done in thirty minutes." I smiled icily. "I need everyone back before I get the next thing done, anyways, skirt-boy." He blushed, and played with the bottom of his tunic.

"Who's the one with the sword?" he asked haughtily.

"Who's the one with the gun?" I countered, holding up the paralyzer as he pulled out his sword. I noticed he was left handed...something we had in common.

"What is going on?" We both looked up to see Peach and Zelda walking back. Peach looked angry for the first time. Maybe it was the fact that we were showing more hostility towards each other than me and Zelda had shown earlier. Why did I keep doing this?

Zelda looked a little surprised, her mouth open slightly. Her eyes flashed from me, to Link, and then back, continuing on in this pattern before glaring at me and then looking straight at Link. Link's face softened when she looked at him, something I hadn't noticed before. He gave her a very loving look, sheathed his sword, and walked over.

He grabbed her hand, and I was surprised my eyes didn't turn green. She smiled at him, a little uncertainly, I noted, and gripped his hand tightly, squeezing it for a second before keeping her hand in his. She didn't look very happy, to my surprise.

Trying to avert my eyes, I walked over to my bag and rummaged around in it, looking for a specific little item. The metal ball was priceless in it's use, despite the months it had taken me to perfect it.

Throwing it up and catching it, I said, "Ok, I'm gonna need one strand of hair from everyone here." They complied, and handing it to me. I dropped it into the hole, and watched as the little ball beeped. I walked around the perimeter of the camp, allowing it to scan it with the red light that poured out from the little hole in it. I placed it in the center of the camp, and then stretched, yawning.

"There we go," I said, sitting by the fire. "I'm done. We're safe."

Zelda poked it with a stick, looking a little nervous. It was kind of cute. "What is it?" she asked, her voice quiet, as if she was afraid that talking too loud would upset some sort of balance.

"It's kind of like a scanner," I explained. "I had it scan the area, and have specific DNA for everyone here. If we leave, and come back, it won't do anything, but if something or someone that it doesn't recognize come it, it'll screech. It'll wake us up at night, and we no longer have to keep any watches."

"Oh, good," Peach said, pulling a watch out of her pocket, and putting it on the ground. "I was getting tired of checking that at night."

Zelda, Link, and I looked at each other, and then I said, "Well, no more watches, no more worries about attack. If there is any sort of animal," I looked at Zelda when I said this, "then this thing will detect it, and it will worn us, and we'll be able to get rid of it." I smiled.

Zelda looked uncertainly back at the little object. "It can do all that?" she asked.

"I made it myself,"I simply stated. I hoped that was enough, this thing was very reliable. I had used it in Phendrana when I had slept a night there; it had saved my life from a Sheegoth. But that didn't seem to be enough.

"How do we know that it's reliable?" Zelda asked, looking a bit nervous. "I mean, it's just a piece of metal."

I frowned. "It saved my life, isn't that enough?" My brow furrowed, and I looked at her.

Peach was shifting uncomfortably, probably from the tension and frustration in the area. This really wasn't what I had wanted, and I didn't understand why this was happening. I was just trying to help; Peach seemed to be the only one to realize that.

"You know, Zelda," she said, walking over and placing a hand on her shoulder, "Samus only did this with your best interest in heart. She just wants to make sure that you're safe, and she's doing this the way she knows how."

Zelda frowned and stood up tall. The fading light reflected off her hair, and her eyes. It made her look gorgeous, and it made my heart flutter. For a second, I thought it had stopped. I couldn't help but stare into her eyes...those deep, beautiful blue eyes.

She stalked off into the distance, her hands balled into fists. Something was going on, something she didn't like. Link called after her, but she didn't move.

Turning around, Link faced me. "This is all your fault," he snarled. "You made her angry."

I held up my hands. "I didn't do anything," I said. "I didn't know it was going to make her upset. I don't even know what's happening."

Link frowned. "Maybe you should stop trying to be the hero here," Link snarled. "That's the man's job."

My eyes widened. "Sexist pig," I snarled, standing up. "Don't you dare ever say that again in front of me. I've seen much more than you, little man. And I did it without wearing a skirt."

His eyes widened and he stalked off, sitting just out of the light of the fire. It wasn't him that bothered me, but Zelda. Where did she go, and what was wrong with her?

For some reason, I didn't want her angry at me. I didn't want her to hate me, and I really wanted her to be my friend. But how did I really feel about Zelda? But she loved Link, or so it seemed.

I knew what I was going to do. I was going to see Zelda, and see what was wrong. Maybe that would help my friendship with her.

I looked at Peach and said, "I'll be back later. Don't wait up for me."

"Don't be gone long," she said, a concerned look on her face. Under her breath, she added, "I'm sure you'll get through to her."

Smiling, I nodded, saying, "I won't be gone too long, I hope." I thanked her and walked off, praying that maybe, just maybe, this would work out.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

I wandered through the forest slowly, trying not to jump up on her or scare her. I didn't want to scare her away. Right now, Zelda was like a frightened rabbit. One wrong move, one time getting a little too close to her, and she would run off, frightened away from me.

My search led me to a field. It was breathtakingly beautiful. Different assortments of flowers grew from the ground, floating in the breeze. The setting sun gave it a surreal feeling, and I could see Zelda sitting on the ground in the midst of the field.

I walked slowly behind her, saying, "Zelda...?" She didn't move, so I repeated myself loudly, more confidently. "Zelda? Are you all right?"

Her head whipped around, her eyes full of anger. "What do you want?" she demanded, snarling at me. "Come here to make me feel bad again?"

Not moving, I murmured, "No, I'm here to apologize. Can I sit down, Zelda?" When there was no response, I took it as my cue to sit.

I glanced over at her, getting a good look at her face. Her eyes were sad, and she looked like something was really bothering her. I wondered what it was, what was on her mind. I really wished she felt like she could trust me.

"Listen for a second, ok?" I said, frowning slightly. I wasn't used to saying I was sorry. I felt kind of weak for doing so. "I really am...sorry...for what I did. Magic is obviously important to you, and I shouldn't have said that without considering the facts. That was wrong of me, ok? I'm...really...sorry...." The last sentence felt like it got stuck in my throat.

There was no response. Had I upset her? Made her angry? I didn't really know. I had tried to make things better, but in the end, just made things worse. Go figure, right?

The silence in the field was icy. Part of me wanted to tell, to tell her that I hadn't done anything on purpose, and who was she to judge? The other part of me wanted to comfort her. Was this "woman's intuition"? Did that even exist? Or...was this something different?

We sat in silence for what felt like eternities. I waited, allowing myself to revel in the silence, instead of hating it. Every moment I spent with her, every moment where we didn't scream at each other and fight, was very special to me. It made me want to smile, when I realized how close she was to me. Finally, she spoke.

"Samus...why are you sorry?" she asked, her voice as soft as a whisper of wind.

I blinked in surprise. What was I here for...? What did she think I was apologizing for? "Because I obviously hurt your feelings," I said, trying so sound confident. "I don't want there to be any arguments in the camp."

"You didn't apologize to Link," she pointed out.

A half-smile slowly creeped up my face. "Link is different," I explained. "I don't feel the need to apologize to him, because it is simply a competitive nature between us. Something tells me we actually have a lot in common."

Zelda just nodded, relaxing and leaning back in the flowers, using her hands to support her upper body. She didn't say anything, just stared at the sky. Sometimes, a cloud would pass over the moon, making the scene eerie for just a split second. Then, all of a sudden, it would clear up, and make everything look ok. Something that I thought made the scene very serene, and sometimes even surreal. Zelda being here added to the sensations.

It was like Zelda took over all of my senses. Like I could only see her, only smell her, only hear her....Only feel her presence. She was occupying my mind, she had a hold over it. I would do anything she asked me to, and I didn't even know why. If she told me to give up being a bounty hunter, I would do it. If she told me it would make her happy if I jumped off a cliff, I would do it. Anything to make her happy. Why did I feel this way?

She spoke again. "Samus...," she whispered, "why is this so hard?"

"What?" I asked, confused. "Why is what so hard?"

She hesitated. "No matter how hard I try, we argue. Do you know why that is?"

"Maybe we just have conflicting personalities." That was the only thing that made sense to me. "I'm not much of a people person anyways."

A smile creeped across her face now. "As if that wasn't obvious." She sniggered, her smile becoming bigger, more genuine.

I hugged my knees to my chest, staring at the blue latex my zero-suit was made of. I only studied it for a moment. Zelda pulled my attention back to her. Did she know that she was doing this? Or was it something involuntary? Did she mean to do this at all?

My mouth opened, but no words came out. What was I supposed to say? How could I love this woman I didn't even know? Or, well, I barely knew. This was the first time we had ever seen each other, and yet I felt like I knew her, like we were already connected somehow.

She spoke instead. "You're really upset about something, aren't you, Samus?"

The question caught me off guard. Upset? Upset about what? I wasn't upset about anything.

"There's nothing wrong with me, Zelda," I said slowly, not smiling or laughing.

She smiled. "You always seem to uptight, like you never want to laugh or joke around."

I frowned. "Well, you would be too, if you were like me."

"And how is that?"

"Battle-hardened."

Her face changed. What was she thinking about? She looked confused. Was she wondering what I had been doing out on the battle field, or was this something else?

"Battle-hardened?" she asked, frowning.

I just shrugged. "You know, I've seen a lot of things, done a lot of things I'm not proud of. But it's my job, and I have to. I've had a lot of traumatizing things happen to me, but you learn to deal with them after a while."

"Tell me about it. You could probably get a lot off of your chest."

I blinked. "I'm here, worrying about you. Forget about me."

"It's this attitude that makes things so hard for you."

I just shrugged. What did she know? Not anything about me, or at least, that I knew of. My eyes filled with tears that were unexplainable. I pursed my lips and looked right at her, my eyes almost overflowing. Why did she care so much? Why did I care that she cared?

"Tell me more about yourself, Samus," Zelda said, her voice so sweet. "I want you to tell me your problems. I want to help you."

My throat felt like it had closed up. "Why though?" I asked, my voice thick. "Why does it matter to you? I'm just some random person you just met. Why should my feelings matter, what happened to me?"

Her face was soft. "I don't really know," she admitted, a light smile on her face. "I feel like I've met you before, Samus. I feel like I know you, but I don't know how. I've never really met you before, you know?"

I closed my eyes. That feeling was all too familiar. But how was I supposed to say that? No words seemed to be able to escape my lips, and I could feel her staring. Was she expected a response like what she had said? Because it was true. Why was it so hard to talk to her?

I swallowed past the lump in my throat and opened my mouth, but no sound came out. I could feel my face turn red, and was glad that the sun had set. The moon, which looked very far away, didn't give much light.

A small appeared on Zelda's lips. "What's wrong, Samus?" she asked. "You aren't talking."

"It's a hard subject to talk about," I lied, listening to the words come out of my mouth. I hoped that was believable enough for her.

She nodded, and waited for me to talk.

"When I was little...I had a lot of shit happen to me," I explained, skimming over it. "I don't really wanna get into details right now. To state it briefly, I lost my family, then got a new family, and lost them. Then I fell in love, and lost him. Then I lived the rest of my life killing things for a living. Whoo." I twirled my finger around in fake enthusiasm.

Zelda bit her lip. "I lost my family. Not quite like that."

"You did?" It was strange to think that I had something in common with this regal, royal princess of some kingdom I had never heard of.

"Well, it was only my mother," she explained.

"Hm...." I looked over the field, and plucked a flower that was there. I twirled it around, staring at the petals.

"It's a poppy!" Zelda exclaimed. "That's my favorite kind of flower!"

I smiled. Handing it over, I said, "Well, for you then." She took it, and it looked like her face darkened, but I couldn't be sure. It was hard to tell if she had blushed; the moon sucked the color out of almost everything, leaving this flowered clearing almost a black and white field.

She held the poppy under her nose, as if she were taking in the scent. Maybe she was, maybe she wasn't. She looked so happy, that I couldn't help but smile. She got up and walked through the field, looking very regal. Kicking her feet, I watched petals fly up. I followed behind her and asked, "What'cha doing?"

She just shrugged, and asked, "What's your favorite kind of flower?"

"My favorite?" I asked back, surprised. No one had ever asked me a question like that before. How was I supposed to answer that? I didn't even know. I just shrugged. "I'm not really sure....I never really thought about it."

Zelda looked taken aback. "You don't know any kind of flowers?!" she exclaimed. "Are you sure you're a girl?" The teasing look in her eyes made me smile.

"Yes, I'm positive," I said, laughing. "I just...don't act like one." A wide smile crossed my face, and she mimicked it.

I stared up at the moon. "We should get back," I said, staring at it. "I promised Peach I wouldn't be out too late."

Zelda just laughed. "You really think Peach is going to notice, Sam?" she asked.

I did a double take. "Did you just call me 'Sam'?" I asked.

She nodded.

"I've never been called that one before. Sammy, yes, Sam, no."

"You don't mind, do you?" She looked concerned.

"No...not at all."

A wide smile crossed her face again. "Well, then, we should get back, shouldn't we, Sam?"

We walked back, in silence. The silence wasn't uncomfortable, and both of us seemed quite ok with it. Silence was always nice with me. At least, if there was a silence, then I didn't have to worry about saying something that would upset Zelda.

I thought my heart was going to burst when she brushed up against me. It was a tight squeeze to get back into the camp, and her shoulder bumped mine. I thought my heart skipped a beat, and I went to sit next to Peach.

"I'm back," I said, a light smile on my face.

For the first time ever, Peach looked stern. "Samus, you were out too late," she said. "Any later, and I would've sent out a search party for you!"

I laughed.

Looking up, I saw Zelda and Link sitting next to each other. Link was holding Zelda's hand tightly, and was talking to her. She didn't really look focused, but Link didn't seem to notice. He smiled and continued to talk. One thing that stuck out to me was that, again, Zelda didn't look happy, or content. I wondered what it was....

We went to bed, everyone exhausted from what had happened that day.

That night, _it_ happened again.


	6. Chapter 6

I am still alive. I am still writing.

I'm having a heard time right now. Ok? My home life isn't that great. Long story. Ok? So if I don't write that often, something's probably going on.

All this stuff © Nintendo.

--

**Chapter 6**

_"Mama?" I call out, running as fast as my short legs can carry me. "Where are you?" People run in the other direction, screaming. I continue to run forward, looking for the only person my brain can register. My mama._

_I slide to a stop. There she is; there's Mama! _

_She's running toward me, running to get me. Running to see me._

_But what is that? Coming towards her? It looks like something I've seen on TV before. A dragon? But it is scarier. Ugly. Like it is going to eat something._

_It opens its mouth, and fire shoots out. It hits Mama. She screams, and before she dies, yells at me, "Run!"_

_I watch Mama burn. I watch her fall to the ground as a pile of smoke and ashes. That's when I start screaming._

--

I woke up to a sound completely unearthly, completely inhuman. It sounds like something it howling. It took me a few minutes to comprehend that the sound was coming from me.

Zelda was yelling to. "What are you doing?!" she cried, exasperated. "What's wrong?! Why are you screaming?! Why are you crying?!"

That was when I noticed the tears streaming down my face. My body convulsed on the ground, as if by it's own accord. All I could hear was the screaming. All I could see was the burning. People running, people terrified. People burning. People dying. Only one to survive...only me....

Another unearthly, inhuman howl escaped my lips. Shaking, I thrashed, feeling hands on me. Whenever someone touched me, I shied away. It burned. It burned like fire. Burned like the fire from Ridley. The fire that burned my mother....

Shaking, I scrambled away from everyone, tears continuing to fall. I was showing weakness...showing fear. Showing how pathetic I truly was. Showing how I wasn't as strong as I acted...as strong as I seemed. It was probably the real me, the way I actually was.

Maybe if I slipped away quietly, they would forget what they had just seen. They would forget about me screaming, about my momentary weakness. Wiping my eyes, I turned away, my back to them. I would be strong. I would be brave. I would push it away from my mind, just like I did every other time this happened.

Only every other time, I was alone.

I could hear Zelda talking to me. "Samus...." she was saying. "Samus, look at me. What's wrong?"

"Nothing!" I said, my voice too loud, too high. "I'm fine. It was just a nightmare. Leave me alone!" I waved my hands above my head.

"Samus," Zelda whispered. "What...what's wrong? What happened to you? You just started screaming. Just all of a sudden. And now you're telling me that there's nothing wrong? You were sleeping. This wasn't just a simple nightmare. Not at all."

I curled into a ball on the floor. How could I do this? How could I admit my weakness to her? I couldn't do it. I couldn't, I couldn't! But the words poured out, despite me not wanting them to.

"I don't know," I said quickly. "When I was little, I watched my mom die. I have nightmares about it all the time now. I have nightmares about a lot of stuff. I wake up screaming all the time. It's not really a big deal anymore. I just want to go back to sleep. Can you please leave me alone?"

Tears started falling again, and I was glad that I was facing the other way. Zelda spoke again, "Why is this not a big deal? How can it not be? Samus, you sounded like you were dying."

Peach spoke, "Samus, keeping things bottled up isn't good."

In a snarl, I said, "I just said what was bothering me."

"But if you just told us a little more—" Zelda started to say. But I stopped her.

"Leave me alone!" I got up and started walking swiftly in the opposite direction.

"Where are you going?!" Zelda called after me.

"For a walk!" I cried, exasperated. "I need to clear my head."

And I did. I walked. And walked. And walked. For what felt like hours. But the sun never rose. I never saw any hint of dawn. To me, it looked like the forest never changed. But I knew I was moving. I had to have been.

Sighing, I stopped. There was nothing I could do. This was like a curse, sucking the life out of me. How was I supposed to rid myself of something like this? Just let it disappear? That was hard. Try to forget? How can you forget something like that.

But I was getting jittery. My legs ached. I needed to move. I needed to get going. I needed to do something. I had been cooped up in the camp too long. That wasn't like me, to stay in a place for so long. Normally, I would have been moving by now.

I started running. I like the exercise. It makes me feel good to feel my heart pounding, to get the blood rushing through me. To get my muscles moving. That was how things were supposed to be with me. Eat, sleep, drink, and move. Move, fight....

Nothing stopped me. I plowed through the forest. My eyes didn't notice anything. My body didn't feel any scrapes that it may or may not have gotten. All I could feel was the adrenaline, the physical strain of the muscles.

There was a bright light ahead of me. What was happening? I wasn't dying, so why would there be a light like that? Or...was there someone here? Were there people here that we hadn't found because we hadn't been moving? I moved faster.

The light got brighter as I got closer. But the closer I got, the slower I had to move. It burned my eyes. Skidding to a stop, I saw what appeared to be a young boy laying there, looking like he had crash landed onto the ground. Small world.

Scrambling forward, I knelt down next to him. The light didn't seem as bright anymore. His red hair was covered in dirt. He was wearing stained white clothes. It looked like a toga. He had some strange wreath in his hair, and sandals. It looked like he had wings. He looked like something from ancient Earth mythology.

Rolling him over, I made checked his pulse. It was there, albeit a little slower than normal. But I had met plenty of strange things in my time here; maybe that pulse was good for him. He didn't exactly look human. I watched his chest rise and fall, staring at the small cuts on his body. Should I bring him back? Add another person to our camp? It seemed like I should.

Grabbing his arm, I slung him over my shoulders. He wasn't heavy at all, so going back would be easy. I just wondered what would happen when I got there. What would everyone say? Would they say I should've just left him? Was I just trying to make up for waking them in the middle of the night?

No one moved when I walked in. They were all sleeping, thankfully. Zelda moved in her sleep, and I froze. Had I woken her? I had already caused her enough strife this night. I hoped I hadn't made this too hard for her.

Dropping the boy by the dying fire, I searched over him, making sure there were no deep, serious cuts. There weren't. He seemed fine.

What had happened to him? How had he fallen? Was he going to be ok? Would we actually talk to him, or would he never understand us? Wrapping my arms around my legs, I stared down at the ground, trying to discern the real problem in this situation.

A voice whispered behind me, "Who is he?"

Without looking up, I whispered back, "I don't know. I found him on my walk."

Zelda sat down next to me, staring at him. "Is he going to be ok?" She looked generally concerned for this boys well being. I wasn't sure why, but then again, why had I cared enough to bring him here?

Nodding, I whispered, "He should be. I'm not really sure who he is, or where he came from though. So don't ask."

She looked away, staring at the wall of trees around this little clearing we called our home. "I'm sorry about earlier," she said. "I shouldn't have tried to get you to say things that you don't want to. That's my fault."

Quietly, almost too soft to hear, I said, "No. It's ok. Let me tell you about it."

--

Shorter than I would've liked. But it's there, at least.


	7. Chapter 7

I swear to God, this chapter took me only a few hours. It's just a little frustrating, though, when I can't write all that much. I miss writing.

Characters © of Nintendo.

--

**Chapter 7**

My breath caught. What had I just said? I wasn't seriously going to tell this random person all of my pain because she had asked, was I? Berating myself, I clenched my teeth and glared at the ground. I was so stupid!

Opening my mouth, I mumbled, "Well, uhm...." I felt bad about not saying anything. She was obviously interested; she wouldn't have asked if she wasn't. But I was embarrassed; I just... didn't really want go back on things that had hurt so bad.

Or did I? The Chozo had always said something about talking things out, which makes things better....But sometimes, I didn't like their advice, like right now. And then somehow, they always ended up being right. Wise bastards.

Finally, I mumbled, "It's a long story."

Zelda smiled. "I have time," she said.

I gulped loudly. My head started pounding. How did I start? How did I say anything? How did I even talk about what had happened to me? She'd think I was a freak! That there was something wrong with me....Which wasn't all that far from the truth.

My eyes slid shut as I tried to find the right words to start. Finally, I muttered, "My parents and I lived on a colony. But it wasn't like the colony I'm sure you're used to. It was like...a whole other planet. With other people who were just trying to make a living. Trying to do something special, almost. We were on a planet filled with fuel. Fuel used by the Galactic Federation, the law enforcement, which made us important."

Zelda nodded, not quite understanding, I could tell. She was probably just nodding so I would keep talking. But...I didn't mind talking.

"I was born there. There were other children, but I was the oldest; I was the first person born there. I grew up there...well, for as long as I lived there. My father was the head of the Galactic Federation regiment there, and my mother stayed home with me.

"At the age of three, I watched the worst kind of tragedy."

Zelda looked at me, her eyes wide. Maybe she understood what was coming. Maybe she didn't. But whatever it was, it was bothering her. "Go on," she said.

I took a deep breath before continuing. "Of course, being important meant we had to deal with a lot of attacks. Especially from the Space Pirates, a renegade group who's goal is to destroy the Federation. They wanted the fuel, and so did the Chozo, a bird-like race who was the wisest group of people I've ever seen.

"But my father couldn't give the fuel to anyone with the consent of the GF, the Federation. But my dad really didn't see a problem with giving it to the Chozo. He didn't though. My father kept it and went to call the Federation. That was when the attack occurred."

She looked dumbfounded. "The attack?!" she exclaimed in a whisper.

"Like you didn't see that coming," I mumbled. Rolling my eyes, I continued, "And I wasn't even in the area. I was in the forest, playing with this little rabbit thing."

"Cute!" Zelda said, smiling widely.

I rolled my eyes again. "Yeah. Sure. But anyways, I remember hearing people screaming. I was little, only three years old, but I knew something wasn't right. I ran as fast as I could. I wasn't as fast as I would've hoped. But when I stopped to catch my breath, I started thinking about someone in particular: my mother.

"Now I was looking for her. I wanted to find my mom. I remember calling out for her, looking and running as fast as I could. I tripped a lot, but that didn't stop me.

"People were running in the opposite direction. I was too small; no one noticed. And then I found her." My voice cracked, and my eyes started to water. Clearing my throat, I turned my head away, toward the fire.

My heart started pounding as I looked at the fire, remember what I had seen. My mother, burning in front of my eyes. Falling...Ridley....I spoke before I could stop myself.

"She was running toward me, calling my name. Calling me towards her. I heard a screech, a sound I had never heard before. I ignored it though, and kept running. My mom was the only thing on my mind. That's when it happened.

"That dragon that had Peach, Ridley, flew down. He shrieked again, and flames shot out of his mouth...engulfing my mother." My throat closed up, but no tears escaped. I cried over so many silly things, and now, when something that was truly sad was brought up, there were no tears left to cry, no tears to fall.

Zelda looked disgusted.

"I...I watched her fall. It wasn't even her anymore. She was just...a smile of ashes, bones, and dust. It was...the most...."

That's when the tears started to fall. My head started to spin. They were falling so fast. I whimpered, biting my lip. I tried to hide the tears, the pain, from Zelda. I didn't want her to see me weak, to see me so vulnerable.

Zelda whispered softly, "Samus...it's ok to cry sometimes, you know."

I couldn't stop myself. Tears fell, and it took all of my self control to keep from screaming in pain. My head fell forward, into my hands, and before I registered what was going on, I felt Zelda's arms around me, holding me close.

My head on her shoulder, I sobbed. This was the hardest I had ever remembered crying in my life, and I couldn't stop myself. I don't cry, I'm Samus Aran. Then why was I crying on the shoulder of some random elf-woman I barely knew?

I had never been held the way Zelda was holding me in that moment. Not for a long time. Not since my mother was alive. Not since I was little. And now Zelda was treating me like a child, sitting me on her lap, cradling me there, while I cried. She stroked my hair and told me everything was ok. Something I hadn't heard in a long time.

The tears didn't stop for a long time, and even after they did, I continued to cling. I didn't want to let go. It was then that something made a lot of sense to me.

Now I finally understood my problem: I was in love with Zelda. But that wasn't normal. I knew there was something more than simple friendship between us. Something more than just simply being good friends. I _loved_ her.

My heart felt torn in two. I shouldn't feel this way. I...I mean, this wasn't as bad as it had been before, many years ago. But something told me that the culture Zelda belonged to wasn't open for this. I was scared to tell her; I was scared to be in love with her.

As I clung to her, my grip tightened on her dress. I didn't want to let go. I wanted to hear her say...but that would never happened. She loved Link. That's who she was meant for. I was meant to be alone.

Tears fell for a different reason, now.

--

I dunno. Poor Sammy, I can say I know how she feels.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

I guess I fell asleep like that. I wasn't sure. When I woke up, the sun was almost all the way to the center of the sky. Sitting up quickly, I looked around. My eyes hurt. Everyone was gathered around the fire, and they seemed to be helping that boy I had found up. Part of me wanted to make my presence known, but the other part knew that it would probably be better to keep silent.

Why was it better to keep silent? After last night, after my screams and yells and my crying, I wasn't sure if I wanted them to see me. Maybe if I just sat here, they would notice me eventually and save me from calling out to them. I didn't want to look desperate for attention, but I was kind of lonely just sitting here...waiting to be noticed. I felt like a child.

Waiting long enough, I got to my feet and slowly edged over to the group. They were talking to the boy. Peach was talking. "--sure you're ok?"

A young boy's voice answer, and I knew that it was the kid. "Yeah," he said. "I'm not really sure what happened."

For some reason, something told me to speak. "You took a nasty fall there, kid," I said. "Glad to see you're ok." I folded my arms and looked away from everyone. What would they ay if they knew what was going on through my head...if they knew what my nightmares were about? Zelda knew, but I knew she wouldn't tell them.

Under his breath, I heard the kid say, "Is she always this angry?"

Peach answered, not trying to whisper. "Yeah. She's pretty scary when she's angry, isn't she? I mean, this isn't even her worst."

Sighing, I said, "I can hear you, Peach." A look of shock crossed her face, as if she was expecting me not to notice her words. Then she looked away from me, her face a little red. Obviously, she hadn't expected me to be listening, maybe....Idiot.

Zelda spoke to the boy. "I'm sorry," she said. "But I don't recall hearing your name...."

"Pit," he said. "My name's Pit."

Passing it off as just me being an idiot, I wondered why the name sounded so familiar. A lot of crazy things were happening here. Maybe this was just one of them. Or maybe I was actually going crazy. Maybe this was just a dream. Part of me hoped it wasn't.

My brain felt like it was on overdrive. So many people here, doing so many things and knowing so many different things. So many people being themselves. So many conflicting personalities in one place. It made my head hurt. Maybe it would be a good idea if I went on a walk again....

Walking to the edge of the camp, I hesitated. Did they even notice I was leaving? Would they notice if I was gone? Did they even care? The were obviously too caught up in that Pit kid to notice anyone else. It stung at my pride, but why did I care? Since when had I cared that people noticed me, or cared about me? Since I met Zelda....

Feeling the heat rise in my face, I walked out of the camp without a sound. Sometimes, I wondered why I was there. I was so different than the others. They were all outgoing, friendly, and good with people. I wasn't. I could barely say hi to a stranger, let alone carrying out a full blown conversation...let alone stay in a place with a group of people I didn't know.

Sitting under a tree, I hugged my legs to my body, resting my chin on my knees. Despite the inner turmoil that was going through me, it was quite peaceful. Maybe if a full-blown war wasn't raging inside my brain, it would be enough to calm me down....

Leaning my head back, I stared up at the long branches of the tree I sat under. An oak tree. I had heard legends about these trees, but I couldn't quite remember them. Something about bad luck...which always seems to follow me. Great.

As the light filtered through the leaves, I shivered. Was this ok? To feel this way about Zelda? I barely knew her....Barely got to know her. But then again, I did know more about her than I did even myself. But if there was one thing I could figure out just by looking at them, it was that they were well behind the world I was from.

They looked...for lack of a better term...medieval. They wore tunics and boots and dresses. Link's weapon was a sword, for God's sake. If their culture was as medieval as they looked, than my feelings for Zelda would go no where. That wasn't acceptable for the time, and besides, she loved Link. It killed me to admit it, but she did. They were always together, holding hands. But... she didn't really seem to be...no, I wouldn't think that; I wasn't going to get my hopes up.

Maybe thinking of her was the reason my heart almost jumped out of my chest when I heard her call my name. "Samus?" she was calling, and running toward me faster than I thought she could in her dress. "What are you doing here?"

Shrugging, I continued to look up at the leaves. "Thinking," I simply said.

"Not about last night, I hope," she said, sitting down next to me. "You don't mind if I sit with you, do you? It's very peaceful here."

I just nodded, having nothing to say. How could I talk to her after my realization? I was afraid I might blurt it out or something. And if I did...what would I do? It was Zelda who shattered the peaceful silence. "What are we doing here, Samus?" she asked.

"Thinking," I repeated, shrugging. What kind of dumb ass question was that?

Zelda sighed. "No," she said. "I mean what are we doing here? At this strange place that no one knew existing?"

I frowned. "Didn't we have this conversation before?" I asked, not really remembering. Either we had this exact conversation, or one similar to it. I couldn't really remember.

Zelda frowned as well, only her frown was deeper. "I...I don't remember," she said. Then she said something completely off topic, and I couldn't help but wonder why the drastic subject change. "About last night...why haven't you told anyone what happened to you? It would probably save you a lot of nightmares."

Shrugging again, I looked away. "It's not easy to talk about."

She smiled. "I guess so."

Feeling a little awkward, I said, "Well, is there anything that's bothering you? I feel kinda bad about making you sit through my angst fest last night. That really wasn't like me at all. I don't cry," I added under my breath.

A conflicted look came across her face. She looked at me, and then at her hands, as if she were trying to understand something. Then she said, "Well, um..."

Waiting patiently, I wondered what on Earth, or...what on random place..., could be going on in her head. Something was obviously bothering her, now that I thought about it. She looked nervous, like she didn't really know what to say. Then, all of a sudden, I felt bad. Was I forcing her to tell me something she didn't want to? I apologized quickly. "I'm sorry, you don't need to tell me if you don't want to. It really wasn't my place to ask."

Zelda laughed. "Listen to you," she said, giggling. "You sound silly when you talk like that."

An awkward smile crossed my lips. "I've said stuff like that before, Zelda," I said, a little uncertain of her obliviousness.

"I just don't know how to put it," she explained, staring into the distance, as if trying to find the right words. "Let me ask you a question then, Samus. Have you ever forgotten something that meant a lot to you? The face of a family member, the sound of their laugh? A place you used to play at when you were a child?"

The question struck me as odd. "Uh, yes, but only because it's been so many years since I even thought about it. And because it never came up, so it just sort of...faded. Why?"

She hesitated, staring me right in the eyes. "What if...you forgot something you didn't want to. A recent friend, the place you lived. What your own name was. How old you were. Your occupation, your life. What would that be?"

"Amnesia, I suppose."

Frustration appeared in her eyes. "But from what?! I don't remember hitting my head."

"People who have amnesia usually don't."

"This isn't funny, Samus." She stood up and started pacing. I watched her walk back and forth. Take four steps in one direction, turn around, and then take four steps in the other direction. Turn around, and continue the pattern. Why was I noticing this? "But aren't people who have amnesia supposed to remember small things?"

"It depends on the severity of the case, I suppose. And besides, no one might've been there for the fall. You don't know how seriously you hit your head, or when you hit it. There might be a bump on your head somewhere. You want me to check?" The last sentence came out without me even wanting it to. _Stupid, stupid, stupid!_

Zelda looked thoughtful for a moment. "Would you mind? You obviously seem to know what you're doing."

"Not at all." When she sat down in front of me, I explained. "When I worked for the Galactic Federation, I was fascinated by the medical field. I'm glad I was, now, because most of the time, I can only help myself, and I can't ask someone what to do. I have to do it alone." Placing my hands on either side of her head, I moved them lightly all over, pressing down on random places. "Tell me if I hurt you."

I shivered as I worked. Physical contact with her obviously wasn't doing me any good. Biting my lip, I tried to focus on the task at hand, as opposed to her. When I was finished, I moved my hands away slowly, a little perplexed. "Nothing," I said. "It must've healed already."

A look of angry crossed her face, but that quickly changed. As tears welled up in her eyes, I felt angry. She was crying; it was my fault. As the tears started falling, I reached out, extending the same care she had given me the night before. Closing my eyes, trying to help somehow, I held her close to me.

My heart felt strained as I listened to her cry into my shoulder. This had hurt her more deeply than I had thought. I didn't quite understand why, but I was sure there was a good reason for her pain. Maybe it pained her to know that she had so many memories buried somewhere in her head, but she just couldn't assess them.

It was strange to sit there and hold her. Part of me was trying to tell her how I felt, just by what I was doing. The other part was telling me that that was a bad idea. Part of me knew I could tell her, because she would forget it anyways. How did I know that?

The tears didn't seem to end. My arms tightened around her, and in her ear, I whispered, "It's ok...it's ok...I'll figure out a way to fix it. I promise." But there was no response. She just kept crying, as if the tears would make everything go away, and the memories return.

But the tears slowed eventually. I actually regretted it, because that meant that I would have to let go. I didn't want to let go. I wanted to hold her and tell her my secret. The secret that would either make or break our friendship.

When Zelda looked up at me, a thankful look in her eyes, I opened my mouth and said, "Zelda, I...." What was I doing?! Was I really that stupid?! If I told her, she'd hate me....

"Yes?" she asked, her voice thick from crying.

Making up a lie that really wasn't far from the truth, I said, "I'm here if you ever need to talk, ok? If you ever need...a shoulder to cry on."

Tears welled up in her eyes again, but for a different reason, I hoped. "Thank you," she said, hugging me.

...I really needed to ask Link more about the culture of Hyrule....


	9. Chapter 9

Samus is finally maybe, just maybe, getting somewhere with this. Way to go for Sammy! Poor Link....

It's a shame Peach isn't in this chapter.

characters © of Nintendo

--

**Chapter 9**

Zelda and I walked back, silent as could be. Neither of us spoke; not about what was said, or about what we thought. This was a moment of silence between us. I respected that, though. Sometimes, as I had learned, it was better to just remain silent.

In the camp, people were still babbling to that boy. It made my heart swell when Zelda sat by herself, staring at the sky. But...part of my heart fell right down to my toes. I shouldn't have been happy to see her take no interest in him at all; not even Link could pull her out of the...the "stupor" she was in at the moment. I sat down by my bag, staring at everyone without trying to be obnoxious.

The hype seemed to have calmed down a little; not everyone was paying attention to the boy—Pit—but they were glancing at him every so often, paying more attention to him than to anyone.

"Link," I said, quietly. He looked over, confused. Normally, I never talked to him, but this was important; I needed to know. "Come here." I waved him forward, and he walked over, sitting next to me.

"What do you need, Samus?" he asked. He looked extremely confused by this.

Hesitating, I bit my lip. How was I supposed to say this, supposed to ask this. "Well, I've been thinking about how everyone's from a different place," I explained. "And I was wondering about...Hi...Hyrule, wasn't it? I mean, I asked Zelda, but she doesn't remember anything, so I was wondering...what you could tell me about it. ...If you don't mind."

A relaxed look washed over his face. Obviously, this was something that calmed him down. "Hyrule..." he whispered, a wistful look on his face. "What do you want to know about it?"

"Everything, anything. Culture in particular though."

Link smiled. "Hyrule is a beautiful nation. Zelda," he nodded toward her, "rules in place of her sickly, elderly father. She keeps the nation well under control. But you said you wanted to know of our culture? Well, there's a difference between the culture of where I'm from and from where Zelda and the rest of the Hylians are from.

"Where I'm from, the culture is simple. We don't have any sort of great art. We spend a lot of our time goat-herding. We make swords and shields. Our clothes are different—we wear shirts and pants, sometimes skirts. Sandles, but that's similar to the Hylians. Also, we wear these...belts that are bright colored fabric.

"The Hylians, I think, have a richer culture than the Ordonians. They have robes and tunics and dresses. They have beautiful arts; paintings, pottery, and other such things. They are shopkeepers and artisans. You know, those things. Their buildings are made of stone and brick, as opposed to wood. It's quite fascinating." He stopped and cleared his throat.

"Tell me some history," I said.

So Link proceeded to tell me of the story of a great hero who, supposed, traveled through time itself to save Hyrule. Then he told me of the adding of the Ordon Province to Hyrule, although it wasn't exactly Hyrule proper.

"What of your story? Why do you wear the green clothes that you claimed are the hero's? How did you come to meet Zelda? You know, all those things. In other words, what's your story, Link?" The only reason I was asking was for a look into Zelda, really.

A look of pure wonder came over his face. "I never really looked back on it that much. I guess...that you have a right to tell. You'll have to tell me about your world one day, though."

"Of course." That was only fair.

Link cleared his throat. "I lived in Ordon Village. It was quiet and peaceful there. Rusl, the swordsman and craftsman of our village, was supposed to deliver a gift to the royal family, Zelda's family, if truth be told. He asked me to go. I said fine, and then, when I was about to go, my friend Ilia stole my horse.

"She loved Epona very much, and was upset that she had been hurt while I was saving one of the children of the village. When I was about to get my horse back, we were attacked. While I was unconscious, a group of monsters took Ilia and a boy named Colin, and the rest of the children from the village.

"When I woke up, I ran after them, towards the great Faron Woods. But when I got there, I saw a giant black wall blocking my path. I stopped, and a great black arm and hand reached out and pulled me through the wall."

I remained deathly silent, listening to his tale with awe. I had never know something like that had happened to him.

"When inside, I noticed how different it was. The world was placed in a perpetual twilight. Peaceful and beautiful it was, but terribly frightening as well. The monster had me in it's grasp, but then, the symbol on my hand shone bright, and it fled. When I landed, I turned into a beast, a wolf. It was one of the most painful, odd experiences of my life.

"When I woke up, I was in some sort of dungeon. I had never been anywhere like it before. I met someone there I'll never forget. While I was trying to break the chain that held me down, I heard someone laugh.

"I looked up to see a strange girl standing before me. She was short, barely four feet tall. Her skin was a strange blue color, and she had black shadows for clothing. The whites of her eyes were red, and her irises were orange on he outer part, and red closer to the pupil. The only normal part of her eyes were her pupils, which were black. Her hair was a flaming orange, and she wore a helmet that covered her right eye. Terrifying she was for such a small person."

He then told me about how this girl had brought him to Princess Zelda, and how she had taught him to use his new body. Princess Zelda told him what had happened. Also, how he had learned that the girl's name was Midna.

Midna had brought him back to Ordon, and had helped him regain his form, at a price. After they had saved the Light Spirit, Faron, Midna had asked Link to help her find the Fused Shadows. Link found all three; one in a forest, one on the top of a mountain, and one under a lake. All of these stories dumbfounded me.

Then Link told me about how, as he was brought back to the spirit spring of Lanayru, Zant, the false King of Twilight who had plagued the world of light, had appeared. He almost killed Midna, and Link brought her to Zelda.

While at the castle, Link explained how Zelda had given up her physical form to save Midna. Her compassion shocked me, and I was forced to admit that Zelda was a much better person than I was. Part of me wasn't bothered by that.

Then Link told me of his trek to find the sacred blade that would relieve him of his wolf form. After finding the Master Sword, the blade of evil's bane, and taking it as his own sword, they had left to find the Mirror of Twilight. How the mirror had been broken, and how they had to find the fragments.

He told me of the Sages, who had told him where to look. One on a high mountain top, one in a deep forest grove, and one in the sky. After their journey to all of those places, he told me how the sages had revealed that Midna was the true ruler of Twilight, the Twilight Princess. Then, they had gone into the Twilight Realm, and defeated Zant.

Afterward, he told me, they went back to Hyrule, and went to defeat Ganondorf, the King of Evil, who the original hero who traveled through time had defeated. He told me how Ganondorf had taken over Zelda, who Link had to face off against. Then he and Midna had fought against Ganondorf, who had taken the form of a giant pig. Then, Midna had sacrificed herself to save Link and Zelda. Afterward, Link and Zelda had fought together to defeat Ganondorf, and they won.

It was then, Link told me, that he saw Midna as she was. He told me all about her, everything down to how her hair gleamed in the light of the setting sun.

Something dawned on me then: Link...loved this Midna lady. But...I thought that he and Zelda....I tried not to smile. This was the best news I had gotten in ages.

"Midna...." Link whispered, his hands tightening into fists. When I looked at him, I noticed that his eyes were brimmed with tears. I couldn't help but notice how bad he felt, and how I knew exactly how he felt as well. He and Midna...it reminded me of me and Zelda.

"Are you ok, Link?" I asked quietly.

"She left me...," he whispered. Then he almost yelled. "She left through the mirror and broke it! I'll never see her again, and she didn't even care!" He smashed his fist into the ground, and I put a hand over his.

"It's ok, Link," I said. "I...I know how you feel." I moved my hand away from his, and I nodded to him, feeling bad.

But my heart was sinking; I was being selfish. All I could do was worry about myself. I knew that their culture had been medieval. He had barely told me about it, but I knew that without him even saying. Now I knew it was hopeless, even if Link did care more for Midna than he did for Zelda.

Link was getting up, pacing endlessly. Obviously, bringing up Midna upset him. It was probably going to be harder for him to forget than he would've liked.

--

The hours passed slowly, and with every passing hour I thought of Zelda. It killed me because I couldn't get her out of my head; she was everywhere. All the time, every time I looked up, she was there.

But the day was over, and everyone was going to sleep. Things were getting quiet, and the silence was almost overbearing. Link still hadn't gotten over Midna yet, he was sitting there staring at the sky, looking sad. Zelda was thoughtful, and Peach was giggling to Pit. Things were silent.

Silently, I slipped out again. This time, I didn't want to be noticed. This was a time for me.

When I was far enough away from the camp, I let the tears flow. How could this be so hard for me. "Do you think this is funny?!" I screamed at the sky. "Are you looking down at me right now, having a good laugh?!" I climbed up into a tree, the stars twinkling above me as I watched.

"You said you would always be there for me, but you're not now! I'm all alone now! No one's here to help me! Not any of you!" I was screaming at nothing. But as I screamed, the stars twinkled. "Not Grey Voice, not Adam, not Mom or Dad...no one!" The stars twinkled again.

The tears continued to fall. "I need help! I need some sort of sign! What am I doing here?! Help me!" I could barely speak coherently, I was crying so hard. As I spoke the words "help me," I heard Ridley shriek to the north.

"This isn't fair! I don't want to fight Ridley! I need my suit, I need something! Please...help me." I sat down on the branch, leaning against the tree and continuing to look up at the twinkling stars.

"Mama...Papa...what do I do about Zelda?" I asked aloud, staring up. I felt like I was really talking to them for some reason. "Would you be disappointed in me? Would you not like me because I feel this way about another woman? What about you, Adam? Are you mad because I feel this way about someone else, and a woman no less? Please help me! Grey Voice, I need your advice!"

I was almost screaming. As I wailed, I felt something strange. The trees, they were...wrapping their branches around me! This was indeed a strange place. But...it felt ok. I felt safe in the arms of the tree, like it was the arms of a parent or loved one. My eyes slid shut. "You really can hear me," I whispered. Every fiber of my being knew what was happening.

"Please, I need help. Where do I go? Where do _we_ go?" I asked. Opening my eyes, I stared.

A bright light filtered through the trees, coming from the north. "North?" I whispered. I thought of the shriek from Ridley, and realized what was going on. That had been my first sign; why hadn't I noticed it then?

Looking up at the sky, I told them of my predicament. I told them about my feelings for Zelda. I told them about how nervous I was, and asked them for help. "I don't need it now, but one day...please...." My eyes closed.

"I'm tired. Mama, Papa, Adam, Grey Voice. I'm tired. So tired....I can barely sleep now. What do I do?" The branches picked me up and placed me on the ground, standing. A fierce gale picked up and forced me to the ground. Underneath my head, a pile of the most beautiful flowers I had ever seen grew. Not only were they beautiful, they were comfortable too. Without warning, I started to fall asleep, murmuring, "I love you guys...."

--

Samus is really pathetic. Not in the disgusting way, but the way where you want to sit there and hug her. Poor Sammy. She will always and forever be one of my favorite video game characters ever.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10. Did this in a few hours. Sorry, I have to rush these, otherwise they would be a lot better.

Characters © of Nintendo

--

**Chapter 10**

When I woke up, the first thing I noticed was the smell. It was beautiful, and impossible to place. Sweet, but not so much that it was overbearing. Keeping my eyes closed, I shifted a little, wondering where this smell was coming from.

As I laid there, I thought of what had happened the night before. That had to have been a dream; when I opened my eyes, I would be laying in the camp with the rest of the idiots there—and I would have to spend the rest of my day with them. The flowers, the signs, the tree; it was all just a dream...a wonderful, wonderful dream.

But the ground was a lot comfier than my bad, and there was no sound other than that of a forest; leaves rustling in a light breeze, bugs going on their merry way, and animals collecting food. Slowly, carefully, I opened one eye, peering at my surroundings.

Beautiful blue flowers rested in front of my eyes, just like the ones I had seen last night. A smile slowly crept across my face; last night hadn't been a dream, it seemed. It made me so happy, that I wanted to cry. I actually felt cared for for once, as opposed to feeling stuck in a world where no one cared about anything but the _idea_ of me as opposed to _me_.

Getting slowly to my feet, I bent down, grabbing the flowers and quickly pulling them up. I wanted something to remember what had happened, to remember that they were watching over me...helping me. With the flowers in both of my hands, I help them under my nose, inhaling deeply. It was a calming scent.

Looking up at the sky, I winced. The sun was almost at its zenith. They might actually be worried about where I was...unless they were too busy fawning over that kid again.

Slowly, I backtracked my steps from the night before, walking carefully. All I could think about was last night. My sign...go north. Ridley was north. That meant my suit was north. That also meant there might be something to help Zelda up north...her losing her memory didn't seem normal to me. I pondered this on the way back, trying to understand everything that had happened.

It seemed to me that so much had happened in such a short time. It wasn't normal, and something was going on. Did none of the others realize this? Or was no one making a comment on it because everyone was too scared to?

Breaking through the wall of trees, I entered the camp as silently as possible. The first thing I saw was Zelda's angry, flushed face right across from mine, glaring. "Where...were...you?" she demanded, her voice filled with anger.

"On...a walk," I said, surprised and nervous. Zelda looked angrier than I had ever seen her. Had I done something wrong?

Still fuming, she snarled, "I was worried sick about you! You randomly disappear in the middle of the night, don't tell anyone where you're going!? Had me up all night worrying about you! And how do you come back?! Looking exhausted and...with flowers?" She looked confused now.

Smiling awkwardly, I asked, "Do you like them? You can have them if you do." I held them out, trying to calm her down, and generally hoping that she would take them.

She reached out and grabbed them, her eyes soft now. "For me?" she asked.

I nodded.

Holding them under her nose like I had, she said, "They're beautiful."

"Yeah," I said. "They're not poppies though—those are your favorite. I didn't see any, otherwise I would've gotten those for you...."

Walking towards where she slept, she placed the flowers on the ground. As she started to stand up, she froze. Spinning around, her eyes held the same anger in them that they had before. "You're trying to distract me!" she exclaimed. "You're trying to make me smile and be sweet so I'll forget what I was talking about!"

Smiling awkwardly, I asked, "Is it working?"

Her face flushed scarlet. "Kind of," she muttered, and then she walked away. My heart swelled with happiness at her response.

Looking around, I looked at everyone else. Link was staring at me with a look of surprise and slight shock; had Zelda surprised him, or was it the ending confrontation. Peach was smiling knowing, looking between me and Zelda like she was expecting something. Pit, the boy, was smiling awkwardly, glancing at Link every so often. It was strange to hear them all so silent.

"Hey," I said, waving my hand slightly. "Sorry about leaving....I went on a...uhm...spiritual journey, I suppose."

Link raised his eyebrows, and Zelda glanced over from her spot on the ground. "And did you find out anything?" Link asked.

I nodded. "North," I simply said. "That's where we need to go."

"Which way is north?" Zelda asked.

I pointed behind me. "North," I stated. "Answers are north. I have a feeling...a gut instinct. And those are usually right," I added.

Link nodded, and Peach said, "Oh! What do we need?" Peach started bustling around the camp, picking up things and muttered to herself things like, "No...not that," or "Oh! This we'll need." For someone so stupid, she was pretty efficient.

Link got to his feet, and Pit quickly followed suit. Zelda looked at me and quickly at the floor. Shrugging to myself, I picked up my bag and yawned slightly, not tired, more so as just bored. They talked and talked about things that didn't really matter—I was ready to go already.

Peach straightened up, a bag slung over her shoulder as well. I wasn't going to ask where she got it. Looking at me and Zelda, she said, "I've got tampons if anyone starts their period."

--

Walking wasn't really so bad. Actually, it was quite boring. The silence that prevailed was not as uncomfortable like I thought it would be. Zelda walked behind me, with Link taking up the rear. The only sound was that of leaves and twigs being crushed beneath our feet.

It gave me time to think, at least.

Zelda had made a comment on what I had said. She had admitted that I had made her forget what she was saying by being sweet. I hadn't even noticed that I was being sweet—I had just given her flowers. But she had liked it; I knew she was holding the flowers behind me.

Did she...no, she couldn't. That was a ridiculous notion, but then why had she done that earlier? Maybe she just thought I was being nice. But then why did she have the flowers with her at all times? Or maybe she was just trying not to let me down. That was the only thing I could think of that sounded reasonable.

Following the river was the only thing we could think to do, and by we, I mean all of us but Peach. The Pit kid was actually relatively nice, putting in his ideas in whenever he could—and he had some good ones.

The scenery didn't change much. Everything looked the same. Trees, bushes, little sky, grass, and dirt. The river constantly gushed silently next to us, the only guidance we had on this uncharted planet.

The sun slowly sank, going on its slow descent towards the line of the horizon. I was more than content to keep walking, but Peach was complaining about sore feet. She had shoved her bag into her "magic pocket," and by that had nothing to carry with her. I, however, was going to carry mine on my own. I didn't need no magic pocket.

We found a spot close to the river to set up camp. Placing my bag at my feet, I walked over to the river and splashed my face with the freezing water. Link went to scour for wood to burn. Peach started to prepare food (without a fire, I didn't know what she was going to do), and Zelda and Pit looked like they didn't know what they were going to do.

Sitting on the ground, I stretched out. My body was telling me I was still ready to walk, but my brain was telling me I was emotionally drained. Maybe I was thinking about Zelda a little too much, focusing on her. Everything about her.

Her face, how every detail fell perfectly together. How her eyes, slightly almond shaped, where the perfect match for her perfect nose and perfect, pink lips. Part of me couldn't help but wonder...what would it be like to kiss her? Nice probably....And maybe, kissing would lead to something more and then—but it wasn't my place to think that, not at all.

I wanted to smack myself for thinking that. How could I? That wasn't allowed, especially because I probably wouldn't be allowed to be with her ever. That wasn't acceptable in Hyrule. God, what was I thinking?!

While I grappled with myself mentally, Link and Zelda started talking. While I tried calming my thoughts, I listened. Link asked quietly, "Why'd you take the flowers?"

Zelda responded just as quietly. "It was a nice gesture, Link," she said. "It was really sweet of her."

"You really don't think that's why she gave you the flowers, do you?" Link asked, sounding a little frustrated. Did they not know I was listening?

"Why did she give me the flowers, then?" she demanded, sounding flustered.

"For the same reasons that Mid—" Before he could finish, Peach called out.

"Link!" she called. "I need the wood."

Link called back, "Coming." To Zelda, he added, "I'm not finished."

After Link left, she quietly said, "But I don't even know what you're talking about, Link. Who did what that reminded you of Samus giving me the flowers?" She sat down next to me after that, staring into the river like I was.

"Hey," I said quietly. "What's up?"

She looked confused.

"How are you?" I asked, making up for the term she didn't understand.

She blinked. "Been better," she said. "And how are you?"

"Mentally exhausted," I said before I could stop myself. I felt like hitting myself again; why did I keep telling her things that I didn't want to. "But other than that, I'm pretty good," I added, trying to make up for it.

Tilting my head to the side, I cracked my neck, sighing. She probably thought I was crazy.

"Samus..." Zelda whispered quietly. "Why did you give me the flowers?"

"Because you thought they were nice," I simply said.

"Is that all?"

"Yes." No.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." No.

Zelda nodded.

Before she could, I asked, "Zelda, who's Midna?"

Zelda's face contorted oddly. "I don't know, Samus. I don't remember." She looked upset. "The name sounds so familiar, like someone I _should_ remember, but no matter how hard I try, I can't."

I nodded. "I'm going to help, just like I said," I promised.

"You said that?"

My heart sank. "Yes. I did."

"Oh. Well, I should probably help...Peach." The hesitation made me worry.

As I sat there, I looked up at the sky. The stars were coming out, and it made me think of the night before. I would probably visit them again tonight; God knows I needed advice.

--

Poor Sammy. Link's a bitch, and everyone knows Zelda secretly loves Sammy...a lot.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Everyone was asleep again. That was the only cue I needed to go out. But before I left, I hesitated. Zelda had been mad when I had left without saying anything. Leaning forward, I wrote in the dirt, "Going on a spiritual journey. Be back in the morning. Samus."

Stretching, I glanced back at Zelda. She looked very peaceful, sleeping like she was. I wondered what was going on with her. Her memory was slipping away faster than I liked, and I wondered how long it would take before she forgot me. I would die that day.

With some effort, I took my eyes off of her. Slipping far enough away so that I wouldn't bother them, I slowed from my jog to a walk, enjoying the solitude. The silence of the area didn't send chills up my spine like it normally did; it just made me realize how beautiful this place was. More plants than I had ever seen, rivers cleaner than those on Tallon IV, and an abundance of animals that were native to Earth. Never had I seen something like this before.

Stepping into a sliver of moonlight, I looked up. This moon was much bigger than most moons I had seen. It was white, like the one on Earth. I wondered if there was more than one. Climbing a tree, I looked up to the sky to get a better view of the stars and moon.

I couldn't make out any form of constellations, and there was only one moon. Nothing that could be made out, but they were still beautiful. I could almost see the different colors of the stars, showing their size and the rate of heat. Looking up at them, I asked, "Am I doing this right?"

The stars twinkled.

Looking up, I wondered what was going on. Was I insane? Is that why I was seeing this? Or was this really happening? Remembering the flowers which I had given to Zelda, I knew that it had happened. How could it not have, with the flowers actually being there?

I looked down at my hands. "Are you always watching over me?" I asked. But I didn't wait for an answer. "How can you just sit around when I'm going to die!? What about when I lost my ship and suit on Zebes!? Did you think it was funny? Or when I was corrupted! Was it all a big joke that the phazon would kill me? Or…or on Aether, and Dark Aether, when the planet exploded, and Phaaze too? Was it just a joke? All something that gave you guys a good laugh? 'How can we make Samus miserable today?'" My hands tightened into fists. I was so angry.

Glaring up at the stars, I scowled. "You could've at least given me a sign," I snarled. "Something to show me how to do what I was supposed to instead of just leaving it up to myself to find out." I continued to glare, waiting for a response. Were they not there now?

Smashing my fist onto the tree, I leaned against it, frustrated. No response and my patience was being tried. I should just go back. If I did, then I could just go to sleep and forget about this. That's when I got a response.

A sharp smack across the back of my head made me cry out. Looking back, I saw a branch moving back into place. Snarling, I looked back up. "What the hell was that for!?" I cried. But then I realized it: they were made because I had accused them of laughing at me. They were really there.

"I need help," I whispered. "It makes me feel so weak, but I do. I've failed." Hanging my head, I added, "I'm really sorry about earlier."

There was no response. Were they waiting for me to continue?

"Zelda's losing her memory. She's gonna forget about me! I don't want her to forget about me. It'll kill me." My hands clenched and unclenched. "What am I going to do? Why do I feel this way about her? Are you mad about that? Embarrassed? Do you think I'm disgusting? That I'm still me?"

A small breeze blew past me. On the breeze, I could hear something, something faint. _"No…We love you,"_ I thought I heard. I must've been hearing things. That or they were really good at getting things to me.

"What am I supposed to do?"

_"Follow your heart,"_ the wind whispered.

Follow my heart? What heart? Jumping off the tree, I lay down on the ground, sighing. My eyes closed, and I attempted to fall asleep. I repeated those three words over and over again in my head. 'Follow your heart.' That's what they had told me.

My heart told me to tell her. My brain told me not to tell her, that it would end badly. I knew that they were probably in the right though; they knew so much. My chest ached; was that normal?

Curling up on my side, I stared straight ahead. Damn, it was cold. Under my head, I felt the flowers grow again under my head. They loved me so much, I just knew it. It made me smile slightly to think of them, watching over me. They were guiding me to do what I needed to do…what I knew that heart that was apparently in there wanted me to do.

They would be so proud when they knew I was going to do it….

--

I was walking back faster than I normally would. My legs were carrying me faster than I thought I could move—and I can move pretty fast. Zelda would be awake, I would tell her. But things didn't seem to want to work out in my favor.

They were already packing up. They would want to leave _now_. Holding the flowers tightly, I walked over to Zelda, who was packing up my bag for me, bless her. Putting a hand on her shoulder, I made her jump. "What?" she asked, spinning around. "Oh, Samus!" She gave me a hug and looked at me.

"I…need to talk to you later," I said. "It's important." Holding out the flowers, I added, "Here, I thought you might like some more flowers. You liked them so much last time…."

The red slowly crept up her face. It was a lot darker this time than last time, and she opened her mouth to speak a few times. Taking the flowers, she held them. "Thanks…so much," she whispered. "I love them." Closing her eyes, she leaned her head against my shoulder. "I missed you last night."

"I miss you every time I'm away from you," I said, looking down at her. The blush deepened in color. Was that a good thing? "Remember," I added. "Later."

"I'm not sure if I will, Samus," she whispered, frowning.

"Well, I'll remind you, I promise." I gave her a quick, awkward hug, and added, "Thanks for fixing up my bag. That was nice."

"Oh, I did?" she asked, startled. "Oh, right. You're welcome!"

Link walked over, looking frighteningly agitated. "Are you two ready yet?" Link asked, folding his arms and looking away. Zelda nodded and walked away. As I started to follow, Link grabbed my arm. "Listen, Samus," he snarled. "I don't know what game you're playing at, but leave the princess alone."

"What are you talking about, Link?" I asked, glaring back at him.

"Toying with the Princess's affections like that," he muttered. "It's not good, Samus! She won't remember it anyways! And besides, she doesn't love you."

His words stung. They stung worse than I had thought they would, and it took all of my self-control not to hit him across the face. "How do you even know?" I snarled. "Are you just jealous because she likes me better? Finally figured out that she doesn't love you?"

"I'm not going to let this happen to me again!" he almost yelled, before spinning around and stalking off. I wasn't really sure what was going on, but obviously Link didn't want to talk about it.

Walking was very boring. I was already jittery from what happened, and just thinking about talking to Zelda was making my stomach churn. What would she say? What would she do? Would she blow me off, tell me I was being inappropriate and inconsiderate?

And the scenery wasn't helping. The same thing over and over again. Trees, moss, dirt, rocks. Trees, moss, dirt, rocks. Again, and again, and again.

The sun rose and fell slowly, following its track across the sky. As the sun fell, and we set up camp, Peach walked up to me and poked me in the back. "What?!" I almost screamed, spinning around to face her.

"Can I talk to you?" she asked, the most sincere and serious look on her face that I had ever seen.

I nodded, confused.

"So, you're telling her?" she asked, smiling brightly.

"Telling who what?" I asked, confused. Was it really that obvious that even Peach knew? I really sucked at hiding stuff then.

"Zelda. About how you feel. Tonight."

"Yes, so?"

"Good for you! Tell me how it goes. You'll do fine, and things will work out well." And with that she walked away.

Clearing my throat, I walked over to Zelda. Coming up from behind her, I murmured, "I believe you said you would talk to me, Princess." I couldn't help but tease her; I never called her princess.

She looked up at me. "I did?" she asked.

"Yes," I said, smiling and grabbing her hand. "Let's go somewhere more private, ok?"

"Uhm, ok," she said, blushing again.

Bringing her away, I walked her to the edge of the forest. We had gotten close to a large mountain range on the planet. Sitting on a small hill, I sat her down next to me. "What did you want to talk to me about, Samus?" Zelda asked, looking away shyly.

My throat closed up, and I was at a loss for words. Here was my time, and all of a sudden, I couldn't do anything! Damn it!

Finally I said, "Zelda…I….Well, when I look at you…I feel…safe." Wow, that was dumb.

"You feel that way too?" Zelda asked quietly.

"Zelda, I think I love you!" I blurted out. I quickly covered my mouth with my hand, looked at her, and got up. "I gotta go," I said, turning to run. Before I could move, she grabbed my hand.

"S-Samus," Zelda whispered, her voice barely audible. "How long?"

"A…a while," I admitted. "That's why I gave you the flowers! And why I was always trying to be so nice to you and…and…ahh! I'm sorry! You don't feel that way about me, I know! It's ok. I'll just…go."

"No," Zelda said, her voice still a whisper. "I…I think…I might…feel the same way. I just…I can't remember," she screamed, pulling at her hair. "I think I might've, but I don't know, Samus!" Tears streamed down her face. "I hate this!"

It felt like my heart was ripped out of my chest, seeing her this upset. I didn't care about her answer anymore. I just wanted her to feel better. Sitting down next to her, I took her face in my hands, wiping away her tears. "Please don't cry," I whispered, our faces centimeters away. "Please don't. No need to cry. It's ok."

"Samus," Zelda whispered back. "I think I do love you."

Looking at her, I asked, "Can I…try something?"

After a pause, she nodded.

Leaning forward, I kissed her lightly, my lips barely touching her's. But she didn't protest or complain when I pulled back. If anything, she looked surprised, so I tried it again, this time, pressing our lips together a little more roughly. Again, no protest.

Looking at her, I looked for some sort of reaction. She looked…happy. Happy, and accepting. I kissed her again, a long lingering kiss. Almost by accident, I kissed her roughly, forcing her down to the ground. Pulling away, Zelda said, "Samus, stop!"

Jumping up, I said, "Sorry!" It had been so long since I had done anything like that, I had just lost control. I wanted to kick myself!

"But…I just…I want to be able to remember this, Samus! I want to remember being with you." Tears welled up in her eyes again. "I want to remember you!" When she screamed that, tears welled up in my own eyes.

"Promise me something, Zelda," I said, closing my eyes.

"What is it?"

"Don't ever, _ever_ forget me," I whispered. "Or at least, try not to."

There was a pause, and she whispered, "I promise."

"Can I ask another favor?" I asked quietly.

"Of course!"

"Can we stay here tonight? Just the two of us."

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

As I laid down next to her, I wondered how things had worked so perfectly in my favor. If only it could've stayed that way….


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Opening my eyes, I looked around, trying to remember what had happened the night before. I remembered Zelda, and kissing her, and telling her that I loved her, and her being okay with it. But was that real? Or was it a dream? It had to have been a dream; she would never...not real. Couldn't be...

But she was there, laying next to me. My arms were around her, holding her close to me. I didn't want to let go. This was that picture perfect moment that everyone always talked about; that moment that you always wanted to have. For the first time ever, I was having that moment. It was the moment that I had really wanted to have, particularly with the person I was with now. Zelda...why did I feel this way about you? How did you do this to me so easily?

Zelda mumbled into my shoulder. "Good morning, Samus..." she whispered, rubbing her face against my neck. "Did you sleep well? You didn't dream last night..." How did she remember all of this?

Running my hand through her beautiful brown hair, I whispered back, "Good morning. Yeah, I slept fine...How about you?" Looking down at her, I stared into her beautiful deep blue eyes. I could get lost in them, lost and never find myself again.

She just snuggled closer to me. "How could I not sleep good with you here?" she asked, smiling. I loved her smile. I loved everything about her; how could I not? She was perfect. "You kept me safe...warm..." Her arms wrapped around my waist, keeping me close to her.

Quietly, I said, "Zelda...I...thank you. Thank you so much!" My arms tightened around her, and I could feel myself shaking. Why did I feel this way? Tears were welling in my eyes, and a strange feeling was forming in my chest.

It was a feeling I had never felt before. It made me feel like, content. But at the same time, I just wanted to scream. Scream in...what, though? Happiness? Joy? Anger? Probably happiness or joy. It made me want to cry, but I wasn't upset. I was so happy, so content. My heart swelled as she looked up and wiped a tear that had fallen lose.

Then she did something I had never expected.

Leaning towards me, she kissed me lightly. But there was something more to the kiss than just a simple show of affection. It made me feel safe, it made me feel content with myself, with my situation. I didn't want to leave her; I could stay in this place forever.

When she pulled back, I looked at her, trying to find words to describe how I felt in that moment. It was almost impossible. My heart was still swelling. Zelda didn't even understand what she was doing to me; how she made me feel.

But then I realized something, and I hated that realization more than anything. We had to go back. The others were probably wondering where we were. Peach would want details, and I wouldn't have any details to give.

Not only was there any details to give, but just the realization of going back made my heart sink. 'Damn...' I thought, sitting up and pulling her with me. "We...we should go back," I sighed, stretching my legs out. "Don't want them to leave without us."

Zelda blinked, looking a little more sad than she should have. "Right..." she said, letting go of me and standing up.

Standing next to her, I smiled. "Walk with me?" I asked, grabbing her hand.

She almost laughed at the statement. "Of course!" she exclaimed, while I pulled her back to the camp. Part of me was actually nervous about the looks I was going to get from Link. The guy probably wasn't very happy about this.

When we walked in, they were starting to pack up again. Peach was taking care of mine and Zelda's stuff for us, which was pretty decent of her. Pit was giving Link that look that made me nervous, but Link didn't seem to notice. He was too busy glaring at me. It would be nice if he would get over himself and grow some balls or something. Anything for him to get over this!

Peach looked over at me expectantly. "Hey," I said to Zelda, "don't go anywhere, ok? I'll be right back."

Confused as she looked, she nodded and frowned a little. "Where are you going?" she asked.

"Somewhere," I said, knowing deep down that she wouldn't remember I had even left. Walking up to Peach, I quickly said, "Thanks for cleaning up our stuff, Peach."

She shoved both my bag and Zelda's into my arms and said, "All right, Samus. What happened last night?" Her eyes lit up; she had obviously been excited to all night. "Your eyes are _so_ much brighter than when you left."

Rolling my eyes, I looked away. "Nothing happened that you would be completely interested in," I said slowly.

Peach was much more disappointed than was completely necessary. "What? No...making love in the moon light? No...passion-filled anything?" I blushed a little at her questions. Were they necessary?

"No, Peach. I just kissed her."

"Full of passion?"

"...Sure."

She sighed. "You know, Sammy, you are no fun! You had the potential to do _whatever_ you wanted—she probably wouldn't even remember it—and you didn't take it! Why are you so boring?"

"Because you're annoying," I teased, pushing her a little.

Pouting, she pushed me back. "You don't push princesses, Sammy."

"And you also don't call bounty hunters 'Sammy' and ask them for personal information that they _most likely_ don't want to give...Not if you like your hair, that is..."

She actually jumped, backing away quickly. "Samus! You wouldn't!"

"Would I?"

She glared. "Not if you like your face!"

Somehow, the threat coming from her wasn't very scary. Oh wait! I knew why! Because she was a short, blond woman in a pink, frilly dress. Chuckling a little, I said, "Sure, sure."

Pouting more, she pushed me forward, "Let's go, boring."

Mocking upset, I said, "Oh no! You called me boring! Whatever will I do?" She kicked me from behind, and I jumped up and ran to Zelda.

Grabbing her hand, I looked at her. "Hey...," I said, squeezing her hand, both of our bags flung over my shoulder now. "How are you?"

The way Zelda looked at me made my heart sink. Had she...forgotten me so soon? "Samus...," she smiled. I had never felt more relieved. Squeezing my fingers, she looked out at everyone walking ahead of us. I could feel Peach's eyes on the back of my head. Was she expecting me to make a move?

Looking back at her, I raised my eyebrows and she smiled. That was obviously what she wanted, oh yes. But she wasn't getting it. Turning my head away, I rubbed my thumb over the back of Zelda's hand.

"What are you thinking about?" she suddenly asked. Maybe the silence had been bothering her.

"You," I admitted softly.

"What about me?"

"Everything."

"That's not very specific."

"Do I have to be?"

"I guess not..."

We lapsed back into silence, but this was my preferred, so it wasn't like I was going to complain.

It almost made me laugh when I saw Link turn back and glare at us. But it was this simple distraction that caused most of the problems. He glared, not watching where he was going. Zelda seemed to intent on watching her feet to notice.

While he watched, the sound of air whooshing through wings was all I could hear.

My muscles tightening, I looked right up at the sky. It was either a really large bird...or something that wouldn't be good. I was leaning towards the second one as I watched the sky, my trained eyes looking for something.

But he moved too fast for me to really comprehend what was going on. Swift as an eagle, Ridley flew between the branches, his feet grabbing tightly around Link, his sword falling out of the sheath and onto the ground as he was hung upside down.

Pulling the paralyzer out of my bag, I ran at Ridley, aiming a few shots at his leg, but before I knew it, he was too high...and Link, along with Ridley, was gone. Pit's infatuation with Link must've been deeper than I had thought, because he flew up and chased after. Peach called after him, screaming for him not to go.

And before I knew it, the three of us were alone.

Walking forward, I picked up Link's sword and held it. It was a heavier weapon than I would've liked to use, but it seemed to work for him. Placing one hand under the flat of the blade, and one hand under the hilt, I turned to face the other two.

"This...isn't good," I admitted, distressed.

"Really?" Peach asked, her voice a little higher than usual. "What gave you that idea?" She walked up to me. "It probably...is a very, _very_ bad thing he lost his sword."

I nodded in agreement, and Zelda walked up. "...What now?" she asked quietly.

Holding the sword out to her, I said, "Here. Take this. It's from _your_ home, isn't it?" But she just shook her head.

"I...I can't take it, Samus. Only the chosen hero can...use the Master Sword." I tried not to laugh at the cliché, but it was so expected.

"You don't want to hold it?" I asked, still proffering the sword to her.

She just shook her head. "We have nothing to hold it in."

Smiling, I looked at Peach. "Got anything to hold a sword in in that pocket of your's? Anything at all...?"

Reaching into her pocket, she shuffled around and pulled out something that looked like a sword belt with a little hoop on the sword of it to hold a sword. "...I'm not going to ask _why_ you have that."

She handed it over to me, and I held it awkwardly. I didn't like the thought of why she had a sword belt in her pocket, but I slipped it around my waste and put the "Master Sword" in the belt.

"That pocket of your's has everything, doesn't it?" I asked.

Peach just smiled. "You never know what you may need. And magic is the strangest thing..." She winked, and then sobered again. "This...isn't the time for jokes, is it?"

Frowning, I said, "When...has it ever been a time to joke?"

Perhaps I was being a downer. But everyone knew I was right. Looking down at the gun, I slipped it back into my bag. I wasn't actually planning on using the sword, but it looked like a nice effect to scare away people.

Turning to look at the other two, I said quietly, "There's nothing we can do now. Link and Pit are gone. We're just going to have to hope that they're ok." I pointed north. "We'll just continue on and hope that we find them. That's all we can do."

Peach looked like she wanted to say something, and Zelda just stared. Finally, Peach asked, "How...how can you not care?"

Looking at her, I sighed. "Peach...There isn't anything we can do. You don't understand. Ridley isn't...he's not like the dragons from fairy tales. The ones that take princesses out of their castles and hold them in tall towers. Chasing after him would be pointless. And besides...I'm sure if we...go north we'll find them. I'm positive."

She frowned.

"Trust me."

Nodding, she walked forward. Grabbing Zelda's hand, I nodded to her. "Trust me," I repeated, looking at her. She nodded as well and squeezed my hand tight. "I'll...fix everything. And damn it will I do it well."

Pulling her forward, we continued walking, storm clouds brewing up above us.

It's a shame that that would be the first in a list of tragedies.

–

OMG has it been a long time, eh? I've been SOOOOOO busy with other things of varying importance. School seems to have this thing with following me into the summer. Summer work? What's with that!

But yes! I am SLOW. I KNOW. You can get mad at me all you want. I wonder how many of you have jumped ship and given up on me. Please don't give up just yet :[ I'm alive, but barely.

(And the fact that I've been watching a lot of Avatar: The Last Airbender is_ not_ helping. It's very distracting, but an amazing show. I heard the movie wasn't **anything** like the show though...Kind of a disappointment)

But yes! A revamped chapter 12. SCORE.


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